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THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF 
SOUTH    AFRICA 

SOME   ACCOUNT   OF   THEIR   RISE 
AND   DEVELOPMENT 


THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF 
SOUTH   AFRICA 


SOME   ACCOUNT   OF   THEIR    RISE 
AND    DEVELOPMENT 


BY 


GARDNER    F.    WILLIAMS,   M.A. 

GENERAL  MANAGER  OF  DE  BEERS  CONSOLIDATED   MINES,  LTD. 


ILLUSTRATED 


Nefa  gorfc 
THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON :   MACMILLAN   &   CO.,    LTD. 
I9O2 

All  rights  reserved 


EDITION  DE   LUXE. 

Of  this  Edition  only   One  Hundred  Copies  have  been 
printed. 

Tbi,  Cofy  i,  Jfo~ 


COPYRIGHT,   1901, 
BY   THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  September,  1902. 


•  NortooolJ 

J.  5.  Cuibing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  (3  Smith 

•  Norwood,  Man.,  U.S.A.  • 


Contents 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Ancient  Adamas  ........          i 

II.  In  Traditional  Ophir  Land    .          .          .          .          .          .          .32 

III.  The  Pioneer  Advance  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -87 

IV.  The  Discovery   .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .114 

V.  The  Camps  on  the  Vaal        .          .          .          .          .          .          .140 

VI.      The  Rush  to  Kimberley 164 

VII.      The  Great  White  Camps 190 

VIII.  Opening  the  Craters    .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .220 

IX.  The  Moving  Men       ........      267 

X.  The  Essential  Combination   .          .          .          .          .          .          .297 

XI.  Systematic  Mining        ........      307 

XII.  Winning  the  Diamonds          .          .          .          .          .          .          .360 

XIII.  Obstacles  and  Perils 384 

XIV.  The  Workers  in  the  Mines 407 

XV.     The  Mining  Towns 450 

XVI.  Formation  of  the  Diamond    .......      479 

XVII.     The  Diamond  Market 511 

XVIII.      Cutting  and  Polishing 528 

XIX.  An  Uplifting  Power     .          .          .          .          .          .          .                552 

APPENDIX 

I.  The  Mines  besieged     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .605 

II.  Winding  Engines  for  the  Main  Shaft,  Kimberley  Mine         .          .      667 

III.  Report  on  Pumping  Plant  for  Kimberley  Mine  ....      669 

IV.  Relative  Value  of  Coals         .......      670 

V.  Statistics  of  De  Beers  Company       .          .          .          .          .          .671 


Illustrations 


PAGE 

The  Koh-i-nur  (Old  Cutting) I 

i.    A    Black   Diamond   in   Gold   Setting.        2.    Ordinary   Window   Glass. 

3.    A  Pink  Diamond  ........          2 

The  Shah 3 

The  Egyptian  Pascha          .........          4 

The  Polar  Star 8 

The  Hope  Blue 8 

The  Empress  Eugenie         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .15 

The  Nassak 16 

The  Great  Mogul 17 

The  Sancy      ...........        25 

The  Koh-i-nur  (Present  Cutting)         .          .          .          .          .          .          -27 

The  Orloff 28 

The  Regent    ...........        29 

The  Florentine          ..........        30 

The  Piggott    .          .          .          .          .          .  .          .          .          .30 

The  Star  of  the  South         .........        30 

Dutch  Ships  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  .....   40,  44,  45 

Dutch  Ships  of  the  Seventeenth  Century         .          .          .          .          .   41,  42,  43 

Insiza  Ruins    ..........   48,  49,  50 

Khami  Ruins  .........       51,  52,  53,  54 

Gold  Ornaments  found  in  Ancient  Ruins        .          .          .          .          .          .52 

Zimbabwe  Ruins      .          .          .          .          .          .  55,  56,  57,  58,  59,  60 

The  Old  East  India  House,  Leadenhall  Street,  London    .          .          .          .61 

The  Landing  of  Van  Riebeeck     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .62 

Portrait  of  Johan  Antonyse  van  Riebeeck         ......        63 

Portrait  of  Maria  de  la  Querellerie         .          .          .          .          .          .          .63 

Constantia        ...........        64 

Vergelegen      ...........        69 

Boschendal 71,  72 

Entrance  to  Boschendal      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .72 

Botanic  Gardens       ..........        73 

Lekkerwijn      ........          ,          ,          .        74 

vii 


viii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Bien  Donne,  Groot  Constantia    .          .          .          .          .          .          .  75,  76 

Overmantel  and  Old  Dutch  Relics        .          .          .          .          .          .          -75 

Farm  House,  Klein  Drakenstein  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .        -7 

Palmeit  Vallei 77,  80 

A  Wine  Farm  at  Klein  Drakenstein       .          .          .          .          .          .          .78 

Muller's  Farm,  Achter  Paarl       .......    78,  79,  80 

Mooi  Kelder,  Lower  Paarl  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .81 

Plaisis  de  Merle,  Groot  Drakenstein      .          .          .          .          .          .          .81 

Donkerhoek,  Groot  Drakenstein .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .82 

A  Wine  Cellar.     Herd  of  Cape  Goats 82 

Tatr,   1757 .  .83 

An  Old  Farm  House,  Lower  Paarl       .......        84 

Farm  House,  Achter  Paarl  ........        84 

Brand  Solder 85 

Cape  Cart 85,  276 

The  Gate  of  the  Castle 86 

Zulu  Chief  Cetawayo  and  Part  of  his  Family  .          .          .          .  .92 

Zulu  Prince  Dinizulu         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -93 

Zulu  Family   ...........        93 

A  Zulu  and  his  Ten  Wives          ........        94 

Zulu  Kraal  and  Huts          .........        95 

Zulu  Hut  in  course  of  Construction       .....'..        96 

Zulu  Woman  grinding  Corn        ........        97 

Zulu  Women  ..........        98 

Zulus  smoking  Indian  Hemp        ........        99 

Old  Zulu  Women  taking  Kafir  Beer  to  a  Wedding  ....        99 

Zulu  Girls    .  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .100 

Native  Laborers  in  War  Dress     .          .          .          .          .         <"         .  101 

Trekbok  (Springbok)  Hunting    .          .  .          .          .          .          .          .102 

Zulu  in  War  Dress  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .103 

Zulu — Jim  Cameel  .........      105 

A  Zulu  Laborer  in  War  Attire    .  .          .          .          .          .          .          .108 

Nest  of  Social  Grosbeak     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .  i'i  2 

John  O'Reilly 120 

Mr.  Lorenzo  Boyes  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .121 

Dr.  W.  Guybon  Atherstone        .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .121 

Pniel  Diggings  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .139 

Delport's  Hope,  Vaal  River  Diggings  .          .          .          .          .          .          .142 

Diggers'  Camps  on  the  Vaal  River        .          .          .          .          .          .          .143 

River  Diggings  at  Gong  Gong,  1880   .          .          .          .          .          .          .147 

Vaal  River  Diggings  .          ,          ,          .          ,          ,          ,          .          .      149 


ILLUSTRATIONS  ix 

PAGE 

River  Diggings,  Waldek  Plant     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .151 

Pniel  Diggings,  Vaal  River  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .152 

Klip-drift,  Early  River  Diggings  .          .          .          .          .          .          .152 

Gong  Gong    .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .  153 

Washing  Diamond  Gravel  by  Machinery  at  Gong  Gong,   1880  .          .      155 

Lightning  at  Kimberley      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .      1 56 

Day  View,  Same  Scene     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .156 

Largest  River  Diamond  ever  found  in  South  Africa  .          .          .          .          .158 

Views  of  Klip-drift  ..........      162 

Kimberley,  1872      ..........      169 

Mrs.  Rawstorne       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .173 

Mr.  T.  B.  Kisch 174 

Kimberley  Mine  just  after  the  Discovery,  July,  1871         .          .          .       175,  176 
Fleetwood  Rawstorne         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .177 

Native  Chiefs  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .179 

The   First   Government  House  and   Buildings  of  the  Colony  of  Griqualand 

West 1 80 

Sir  Richard  Southey's  Residence,  Kimberley  .          .          .          .          .181 

Stephen  J.  Paul  Kriiger      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .185 

Coach  leaving  Kimberley  for  the  Coast,  1875          •          •          •          •          .187 

Kimberiey,  before  the  Discovery  of  Diamonds          .          .          .          .          .190 

Dutoitspan       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .       191,  192 

Kimberley,  1871      .          .         ~f~"      .......      193 

Kimberley  Mine,  1871      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .194 

Around  Kimberley  Mine,  1871.          .          .          .          .          .          .          -'95 

Kimberley  Mine,  1872 197,  203,  205,  208,  209 

Centre  Block,  Kimberley  Mine,  1874 200 

The  Roadways,  Kimberley  Mine,  1871-1872 20 z 

Roads  in  Kimberley  Mine,  1871-1872 204,207 

Market  Square,  Kimberley  .          .          .          .          .          .          .212,  213 

Natives  resting,  on  their  Way  to  the  Mines    .          .  .          .      z  1 8 

The  Breaking  up  of  the  Roads,  Kimberley  Mine,  1872    .          .          .          .221 

Miners  going  to  Work       .........      222 

The  Hand  Drums  used  for  Winding-up  the  Blue  Ground  .          .          .      223 

De  Beers  Mine,  1873 223 

Kimberley  Mine,  1873      ••-•••  •  2Z4 

Kimberley  Mine,  1874 225 

Natives  carrying  Ground  out  of  Dutoitspan  in  Buckets       .          .          .          .226 
Back  View  of  the  Staging  with  Grooved  Wheels,  at  Kimberley  .          .          .      226 

Kimberley  Mine,  1875 -          .          .          .      227 

Snow  in  Kimberley  Mine,  June  2 1 ,  1876     .          .          .          .          .          .228 


x  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Method  of  Hauling,  De  Beers  Mine,  1873 228 

The  First  Horse  Whim,  Kimberley  Mine,  1874     .  ...      229 

Hauling  Gear  and  Jumpers,  Kimberley  Mine,  1878          .          .          .  ±:g 

A  Nook  in  Kimberley  Mine,  1874 230 

The  Horse  Whims,  Kimberley  Mine,  1875 231 

Hauling  Gear,  Dutoitspan  Mine,  1876          ......      232 

Surface  Loading  Boxes       ......  233 

Aerial  Trams  and  Surface  Chutes,  De  Beers  Mine,  1885  .          .          .233 

Hauling  Gear,  Kimberley  Mine,  1885 234 

The  French  Company's  Sling  Gear,  1885 235 

Loading  Tubs  at  Bottom  of  Kimberley  Mine,  1885  .          .          .          .      236 

The  Standard  Company's  Claim,  Bottom  of  Kimberley  Mine,  1885    .          .      237 
Bottom  of  Kimberley  Open  Workings  .          .          .          .  .          .          .238 

Pumping  Engine  in  Kimberley  Mine,  1875   ......      239 

Incline  Tramway  for  Hauling  Reef,  1878      .          .          .          .          .          .      240 

Hauling  Reef,  Kimberley  Mine,  1873  ......      241 

Reef  Falls,  Kimberley  Mine,  1 88 1 242 

Steam  Pumping  Engine,  De  Beers  Mine,  1879        .          .          .          .          .      243 
The  Central  Company's  Shaft,  Kimberley  Mine,   1885    .  .          .          .      244 

The  Bottom  of  Kimberley  Mine,  1885 245 

Plan  of  Kimberley  Mine,  1883  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .246 

Reef  Slips,  Kimberley  Mine,  1874 .          .      247 

Kimberley  Mine,  showing  how  the  Ground  cracked  before  Subsidence  .      247 

The  Central  Company's  Atkins  Shaft  .......      248 

The  Last  of  Open  Working,  Kimberley  Mine,  1889        ....      249 

R.  D.  Atkins 250 

No.  2  Incline  Shaft,  De  Beers  Mine    .          .          .          .          .  .  .251 

Eldorado  Road,  Dutoitspan  Mine,  1874        .          .          .          .          .  251 

Claims  in  Dutoitspan  Mine          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .252 

Bultfontein  Mine,  1879 2S3 

The  First  Rotary  Washing  Machine 254 

Another  Early  Washing  Machine,  1874         .          .          .          .          .          .255 

Horse-power  Washing  Machine,  1875  .          .          .          .          .          .  ,   255 

Early  Horse-power  Washing  Machine,  1874  .....      256 

The  First  Washing  Machine  with  Elevator  to  carry  away  the  Tailings  .      257 

Washing  Gear,  Bultfontein  Mine          .          .          .          .          .          .          .258 

Steam  Washing  Gear,  Kimberley  Mine          .          .          .          .          .          .259 

Webb's  Washing  Machine,  1878 260 

Cape  of  Good  Hope  Company's  Washing  Gear,  1878     .          .          .          .261 

Washing  Gear,  Dutoitspan  Mine  .......      262 

Washing  Gear,  Bultfontein  Mine,  1878         ,,,,,.      263 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

PAGE 

Mr.  Barney  Barnato  .••......      268 

C.  J.  Rhodes,  when  a  Student  at  Oxford       .          .          .          .          .          .272 

Cape  Town    ...........      273 

Silver  Trees     .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .      27C 

Mr.  C.  D.  Rudd 279 

Mr.  Robert  English  .........      270 

Plan  of  Kimberley  Mine,  1882   ........      282 

House  of  Parliament,  Cape  Town         .......      284 

Avenue  of  Oaks,  Cape  Town      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .285 

Mr.  Carl  Meyer      ..........      287 

Mr.  Alfred  Beit 289 

The  Diamond  Market,  Kimberley,  1875        .          .          .          .          .          .      290 

The  Right  Honorable  Cecil  John  Rhodes,  and  Alfred  Beit,  Esq.,  October, 

1901 292 

Fac-simile  of  Check  given  in  Payment  for  Kimberley  Mine         .          .          .      295 
A  Group  of  Directors,  De  Beers  Mines          ......      300 

Group  of  Life  Governors,  Directors,  Manager,  and  Secretary,  De  Beers  Mine     303 
Mr.  E.  R.  Tymms  .........      306 

The  Last  of  Open  Mining,  Kimberley  .          .          .          .          .          .308 

Plan  of  De  Beers  Mine      .......       309,  316,  318 

Section  through  De  Beers  Mine  .......       310,  311 

Plan  of  Kimberley  Mine     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .312 

Section  of  Kimberley  Mine          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -313 

Sketch  of  Premier  Mine     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .318 

Sloping 319,  320 

Timbering  Tunnels  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .321,  322 

Natives  drilling,  De  Beers  Mine  .          .          .          .          .          .          .322 

A  Shaft  Station         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .324 

Loading  the  Trucks  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .325 

Loading  Chutes  for  Rock  Shaft    .          .          .          ...          .          .          .326 

Plan  of  Skip  for  Six  Loads  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .327 

Main  Shaft,  Kimberley  Mine       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .328 

The  Rock  Shaft,  De  Beers  Mine 329 

Vertical  Tandem  Compound-condensing  Winding  Engines          .          .       330,  331 
Winding  Engine,  Kimberley  Mine        .          .          .          .          .          .  332 

Mr.  Louis  I.  Seymour       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          •      332 

Plan  of  Bultfontein  Mine    .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -333 

Mount  Ararat  before  Blasting       ........      342 

Shots  fired 343 

A  Second  after  Firing         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          '344 

The  Mine  filled  with  Smoke        .          ,          .          .          .          .          .          -345 


xii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

After  the  Smoke  has  cleared  away         .......      346 

Premier  Mine,  Open  Workings  ....  .          .          .      34,8 

Premier  Mine 350,  351,  353^ 

One  of  the  Early  Washing  Machines    .          .          .          .          .          .          .354 

One  of  the  Present  Washing  Plants       .          .          .          .          .          .          -355 

No.  i  Washing  Plant,  De  Beers  Floors          .          .          .          .          .  356 

No.  2  Washing  Plant,  De  Beers  Floors          .          .          .          .  357,  370 

Excelsior  Diamond   .........       358,  359 

De  Beers  Mine  and  Floors  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .361 

Details  of  zo-Cubic-feet  Truck   ........      362 

Details  of  1 6-Cubic-feet  Truck   ........      363 

De  Beers  Floors        ........       364,  365,  366 

Mechanical  Haulage,  Kimberley  Mine  .          .          .          .          .          .364 

Kimberley  Floors      .          .          .          .  .          .          .          .          .          .366 

Harrowing  Blue  Ground    .          .          .          .          .          .  .          .          .367 

Traction  Engine  for  harrowing  Blue  Ground  .          .          .          .          .368 

Loading  Pulverized  Blue  Ground,  De  Beers  Floors  .          .          .          .          ^     369 

Washing  Machine,  De  Beers  Mine       .          .          .          .          .          .          .370 

De  Beers  Crushing  Mill 371.374 

Details  of  Rotary  Washing  Machine     .          .          .          .          .          -372.373 

The  Pulsator 376 

Sorting  Gravel  for  Diamonds       .          .          .          .          .          ...          -377 

Automatic  Diamond  Sorter          ..          .          .          .          .          .          -379 

Mr.  James  Stewart  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .381 

^60,000  Parcel  of  Diamonds    ........      382 

A  Day's  Diamond  Wash   .........      383 

Mr.  Lindsay,  killed  in  Fire         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .388 

Fire  in  De  Beers  Mine,  July  ii,  1888 389 

No.  z  Incline  Shaft,  after  the  Fire        .          .          .          .          .          •      392»  393 

Waiting  for  News  from  the  Mine          .......      395 

Men  escaping  through  Tunnel     ........      398 

The  Survivors  coming  up  the  Terraces  .          .          .          .          .          .401 

General  Manager  of  De  Beers  Mines  and  his  Staff  .          .          .          .          .     406 

J.  M.  Jones    ...........      407 

The  Engineers,   Mechanics,  and  Workmen  who  built  De  Beers   Crushing 

Plant 408 

Frank  Mandy  ..........      409 

G.  Scott 409 

Rinderpest       ...........      410 

The  Game  of  the  Country  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .411 

Chiefs  of  the  Batlapin  Tribe        .          .          .          ,          .          .          .          .412 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xiii 

PAGE 

De  Beers  Compound          .  ...        414,415,417,418,419 

De  Beers  Compound  Musical  Band  of  Natives         .....      420 

A  Fireside  Gathering,  Kimberley  Compound  .          .          .          .          .421 

Natives  making  Coffee,  Kimberley  Compound          .          .          .          .          .422 

Open  Mine  Workers,  Kimberley  Compound  .....      423 

Kimberley  Mine  Compound        ........      424 

Natives  drilling  in  the  Open  Mine        .          .          .          .          .          .          -425 

The  Last  of  Open  Mining  in  Dutoitspan  Mine        .....      425 

Natives  drilling  Underground       ........     426 

The  Midday  Meal 427 

Zulu  Workmen,  Dutoitspan  Mine         .          .          .          .          .          .          .429 

Native  making  Bangles        .........      430 

Mr.  Rouliot  and  Native  Workmen        .          .          .          .          .          .          .      43 1 

'Mshangaan  in  War  Attire  .          .          .          .          .          .          ,          .433 

Native  War  Dance  ..........      434 

'Mshangaans  in  War  Paint  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .435 

Sir  Alfred  Milner's  Visit  to  Kimberley  Compound  .          .          .          .          .437 

A  Quiet  Game  of  Cards     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -438 

Natives  playing  Chuba       .........      439 

Natives  playing  Mancala    .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .439 

Swimming  Bath,  De  Beers  Compound  ......     440 

Natives  smoking  Indian  Hemp    .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .441 

Diamonds  swallowed  by  a  Native         ......      444,  445 

Diamond  Thieves     ........       446,  447,  448 

De  Beers  Machine  Shops  .........     449 

Snow  in  Kimberley,  1876  .          .  .          .          .          .          -45' 

Theatre  Royal          .........      452,  453 

The  Town  Hall 454 

Dutoitspan  Road,  Kimberley       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .454 

Kimberley  Hospital  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -455 

The  Kimberley  Club 455,  456 

Horns  of  South  African  Antelope  .          .          .         457,  458,  459,  460,  461 

Professor  J.  G.  Lawn        .........     462 

Professor  Orr  ...........      462 

Sir  Alfred  Milner  passing  the  Offices  of  De  Beers  Mines  ....     463 

De  Beers  Offices  decorated  in  Honor  of  Governor's  Visit  .          .          .463 

Kimberley  Public  Library  .........     464 

The  Sanatorium        ..........      464 

Masonic  Temple      ..........     465 

The  Post-office,  Kimberley         ........     466 

Nazareth  House,  Kimberley         ........     466 


xiv  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The  Author's  House  at  Kimberley        .          .          .          .          .          .          .      -67 

"  Smell  my  Flowers  " 468 

Kimberley  Race  Course     .          .          .          .          .          .  .          .  .468 

The  Grand  Stand 469 

Bachelors'  Quarters,  Kenilworth  Village         .          .  .          .          .          .      47 1 

Passenger  Train  for  Workmen     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .472 

The  Road  to  Kenilworth  and  Kenilworth  Reservoir  .          .          .          .472 

Kenilworth  Club-house      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .473 

Kenilworth  Village  ........       474,  475,  476 

Preparing  Trenches  for  planting  Vines  and  Trees     .          .          .          .          .477 

Section  of  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  Rock  Shafts       .....      480 

De  Beers  Diamond  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .482 

The  Largest  Diamond  ever  found  in  the  Kimberley  Mine  .          .          .483 

Fossil  Fish  from  Premier  Mine     ........      486 

Irregular  Crystallization  of  Diamonds    ......       488,  489 

Crystal  of  Diamond  .          .          .          .          .  .          .          .      (    .      490 

Twin  Crystal  Formations  .          .          .          .          .          ...          .          .491 

Diamonds  of  Regular  Forms         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .493 

Diamonds  of  Irregular  Forms       .......      496,  504 

A  Microscopical  Diamond  .  .  .          .  .          .          .          .501 

Smooth  Surface  of  Diamond  dissected  by  Combustion        ...          .          .      503 

Two  Views  of  the  Face  of  a  Rough  Diamond  as  seen  through  the  Microscope      505 
Diamond  bearing  a  Smaller  Crystal  in  its  Centre      .....      507 

Diamond  Sorters  and  Valuators    .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .512 

A  De  Beers  Group  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .515 

The  Officials  who  manage  the  Benefit  Society,  De  Beers  Mines  .          .      518 

A  Group  of  Officials  of  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited  .          .      519 

Photograph  of  a  Book  with  the  Leaves  cut  out  in  the  Centre,  used  by  an 

Illicit  Diamond  Dealer  to  send  Diamonds  to  England          .          .          .522 
Examination  of  the  Diamonds  before  and  after  Cutting      .          .          .          .529 

Cleaving          ...........      540 

Cutting  .  .  .          .       541,  543 

Polishing          .  .  .       54.5,  549 

A  Group  of  Directors,  General  Manager,  and  Secretary  of  De  Beers  Mines  .      552 
Natives  riding  Bullocks       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .  -553 

Pioneers  Trekking     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .554 

A  Prospecting  Expedition  to  Mashonaland      .          .          .          .  .          .554 

Trekking  on  the  Veld 555 

The  first  and  only  Load  of  Cotton  raised  in  South  Africa  .          .          .          .556 

Zebra 557 

Coach  leaving  Kimberley  for  the  Transvaal  before  the  Day  of  the  Railway   .      558 


ILLUSTRATIONS  Xv 


PAGE 


Cape  Town  and  Table  Mountain          .          .          .          .          .          .       558,  561 

A  Group  of  Well-known  Kimberley  Men       .          .          .          .          .          -559 

Eland     ............      560 

Table  Mountain,  from  the  West  .          .          .          .          .          .          .562 

Lord  Milner   ...........      563 

Donkey  Transport    ..........      564 

A  South  African  Farm        .........      565 

Natives  shearing  Sheep       .........      566 

Dutch  Farm  in  the  Karoo  .........      567 

Beaufort  West  ..........      568 

Norvals  Pont  Bridge  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .569 

Sir  Walter  Hely  Hutchinsen        .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .571 

Entrance  —  Groote  Schuur          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -575 

Groote  Schuur  after  its  Destruction  by  Fire    .          .          .          .          .          -577 

Pioneers  Trekking  in  Mashonaland        .          .          .          .          .          .          -579 

Khama,  a  Noted  Chief      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .580 

Khama's  Town        .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .581 

Khama's  Hut  ..........      582 

Matabele  Women  carrying  Water          .          .          .          .          .          .          -583 

A  Group  of  Visitors  at  Groote  Schuur.          .          .          .          .          .          .584 

Great  Kafir  Kraal,  Mochudi,  Matabeleland    .          .          .          .          .          .585 

Groote  Schuur  ..........      587 

Major  Wilson's  Grave       .........      588 

Victoria  Falls,  Zambesi  River      ......       590,  591,  593 

Zambesi  River  One  Mile  below  Victoria  Falls         .          .          .          .          .594 

Summer  House  at  Groote  Schuur          .......      596 

"  Stoep,"  Groote  Schuur.  ........      597 

A  Corner  in  Mr.  Rhodes's  Library      .......      599 

Another  View  of  Mr.  Rhodes's  Library         ......      600 

A  Boer  Commando  ..........      605 

Lieut.  Col.  Kekewich  and  Staff  of  Imperial  Officers  ....      606 

Fort  on  Tailings  Heap,  Kimberley  Mine  Floors       .....      607 

One  of  the  Redoubts  .........      608 

Fort  Rhodes,  Kenilworth,  and  its  Defence  Force     .....      609 

View  from  the  Conning  Tower  ........      609 

The  Waterworks  Company's  Reservoir  as  a  Fort     .          .          .          .          .610 

Fort  Rhodes,  on  Top  of  No.  2  Tailings  Heap,  De  Beers  Floors          .          .610 
No.  2  Redoubt,  near  Kimberley  Mine  .          .          .          .          .          .611 

A  Barrier  on  the  Road  leading  to  Kenilworth  .          .          .          .          .611 

The  Sanatorium  in  Time  of  Peace         .          .          .          .          .          .          .612 

The  Sanatorium  during  the  Siege  .          .          .          .          .          .          .612 


xvi  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Mounted  Camp,  Kimberley         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .613 

Camp  of  the  Royal  North  Lancashires  .          .          .          .          .          .          .614 

Officers  of  the  Diamond  Fields  Horse  .          .  .          .          .          .          .615 

The  Diamond  Fields  Horse  at  Kenilworth,  during  Siege  of  Kimberley  .      615 

A  Group  of  the  Town  Guard      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .616 

Defence  Guns  and  Maxims  massed  in  the  Gardens  .          .          .          .616 

Headquarters  Staff,  Cape  Mounted  Police       .          .          .          .          .          .617 

Kimberley  Waterworks  Reservoir,  with  Royal  Artillery    .          .          .          .618 

Premier  Mine  Fort,  Royal  Artillery  in  Action          .          .          .          .          .618 

Premier  Mine  Searchlight  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .619 

Canvas  House  erected  for  Protection  from  the  Sun  and  Thunderstorms          .      619 
Railway  Bridge  over  the  Vaal  River  at  Fourteen  Streams  ....     620 

Boer  Laager,  near  Kimberley       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .621 

Group  of  Typical  Boers     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .621 

A  Group  of  Mercenaries  fighting  with  the  Boers      .  .          .  /        .          .      622 

Code  Dispatches  received  during  the  Siege      .          .          .          .          .          .623 

Typical  Boer  ...........      624 

Major  W.  H.  E.  Murray  ........      624 

Armored  Locomotive          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .625 

Armored  Train         .          .  .          .          .          .          .          .          .  .625 

Railway  Bridge  at  Modder  River  ...'....     626 

Effect  of  a  Nine-Pound  Shell       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .627 

Trophies  of  the  Siege         .........     628 

Boer  Nine-Pound  Shrapnel          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .     629 

British  and  Boer  Shells  fired  at  Kimberley       ......      630 

Site  of  Cronje's  Laager,  Magersfontein  .          .          .          .          .          .631 

Conning  Tower,  De  Beers  No.  I  Shaft          .          .          .      ^«"       •          •      632 
The  Funeral  of  Colonel  Scott-Turner  and  the  Men  who  fell  with  him  .      633 

Boer  Trenches  at  Magersfontein  ........     634 

Plan  through  Tomb  ..........      634 

The  Honoured  Dead  Memorial  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .635 

Plan  through  Columns        .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .-635 

"Long  Cecil"  as  a  Mild  Steel  Billet -      .     636 

"  Long  Cecil  "  in  course  of  Construction       .          .          .          .          .          .637 

"Long  Cecil  "  just  before  it  was  taken  out  of  the  Workshops    .          .          .638 
Construction  of "  Long  Cecil "  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .639 

Boring  and  Rifling  Tools    .........      640 

Shell  for  4.1  inch  B.  L.  Siege  Gun  and  for  2.5  inch  Gun          .          .          .641 
"Long  Cecil"  and  the  De  Beers  Men  who  made  it         ....      642 

"Long  Cecil" 643 

"Long  Cecil"  firing  at  the  Boers  on  Carter's  Ridge        .          .          .          .643 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xvii 

PAGE 

"Long  Cecil,"  made  in  Kimberley,  and  Royal  Artillery  Gun  sent  to  defend 

Kimberley         ..........      644 

Casting  Shells  for  Seven- Pounders,  De  Beers  Foundry       ....      645 

The  Soup  Kitchen    ..........      645 

Comparison  of  Shells  .........      646 

Notice  on  the  Market  Buildings  during  the  Siege      .....      647 

Inhabitants  of  Kimberley  waiting  for  their  Daily  Allowance  of  Horse  Meat   .      648 
Band  of  the  Kimberley  Volunteer  Regiment  playing  at  the  Mounted  Camp 

during  the  Siege         .........      649 

The  Mafeking  "Long  Tom" 650 

Boer  Shells      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .651 

Premier  Studio,  showing  Effect  of  100- Pound  Shell  .          .          .          .652 

Effect  of  a  loo-Pounder     ........      653,  654 

Mr.  Compton's  Drawing-room  barricaded  for  Shelter  from  Boer  Guns         .      654 
Shell-proof  constructed  by  the  Public  Works  Department  .          .          .          .6;; 

Excavations  in  the  Tailing  Heaps  at  Beaconsfield,  used  as  Shelters        .          .      656 
Shell-proof,  after  the  Siege  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .656 

Shell-proof  at  the  Convent  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .657 

Shell-proof  Dugouts  .          .........      657 

Notice  sent  round  the  Town  during  the  Shelling  by  the  Boers'   100- Pound 

Gun         ...........      658 

Shelters  for  Women  and  Children  during  firing  of  loo-Pound  Boer  Gun        .      659 
Too  Late  !     Two  Siege  Guns  arrived  after  the  Siege         .          .          .          .659 

The  United  States  Consulate       ........      660 

Women  and  Children  waiting  to  be  lowered  down  De  Beers  Mine      .          .      660 
Hoisting  Double-decked  Cage  loaded  with  People  and  their  Bedding    .          .661 
Boer  Gun  captured  at  Dronfield  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .662 

Surrender  of  General  Cronje        .  .          .          .          .          .          .      663 

Lord  Roberts  and  General  Cronje          .......      664 

General  Cronje  as  a  Prisoner  of  War     .          .          .          .          .          .          .665 

Reception  of  Lord  Roberts  and  Lord  Kitchener,  Kimberley  Town  Hall         .      666 

MAPS 

Blaeuw's  Map  of  Africa     .......  between        32-33 

Visscher's  Map  of  Africa,  1662  .......        33 

Africa  from  an  Early  Dutch  Map          .          .          .          .          .          .          .34 

Outline  Copy  of  the  Catalan  Mappermonde,  1375  .          .          .  36,  37 

Outline  Copy  of  the  Map  of  Portolano  Laurenziano,   1351          .          .          .        38 
Africa  de  Mappermonde,  Juan  de  la  Cosa,   1500     .....        39 

Chart  showing  Method  of  Surveying  Coast  Lines     .....        46 


xviii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Map  showing  the  Position  of  Ancient  Ruins  in  Rhodesia  ....        47 

Kimberley  Mine between   276-277 

Diamond  Mines  owned  by  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited    between  316-3  I  7 
A  Map  to  illustrate  the  Rhodesia  Railway  System    .  ...      592 

PHOTOGRAVURES 

FACING  PAGE 

Portrait  of  Gardner  F.  Williams  .......    Frontispiece 

Farmhouse  on  the  Farm  Constantia,  near  Cape  Town       ....        64 

La  Rhone,  Groot  Drakenstein  | 

Old  Le  Roux  .          .      \' 

A  View  from  the  Kloof  Road  leading  from  the  Upper  Part  of  Cape  Town    .        86 

Zulu  in  War  Attire  .....  .  .94 

The  Author's  Collection  of  Diamonds  .  .  .          .          .          .          .154 

The  Homestead  of  the  Farm  Vooruitzigt  on  which  are  De  Beers  and  Kim- 
berley Mines    .          .          .          .          .          .          •          .          .          .172 

Portrait  of  Sir  Richard  Southey          «£ .          .          .          .  .  .          .      1 80 

Natives  seeking  Work         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .188 

Kimberley  Mine,  1872 I.      196 

Floating  Reef,  Kimberley  Mine  ........      240 

Kimberley  Mine,  1886 246 

Bultfontein  Mine,  1878.          .          .          .          .          .  .          .252 

Portrait  of  Cecil  John  Rhodes      .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .272 

Barnato's  Residence,  Kimberley  ........      296 

A  Group  of  Officials 298 

Premier  Mine,  looking  from  Workings  up  through   Incline  where  the   Blue 

Ground  is  hauled        .........      344 

Premier  Mine  .          .          .          .          .          •          •          •          •          .352 

Washing   Machine  with   1 8   Pans.      Capacity,   6000  Loads,  equal  to  4800 

Tons  in  Ten  Hours  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .374 

Waiting  for  News  from  the  Mine,  July  12,  1888 392 

Dutoitspan  Road,  Kimberley       .........     454 

The  Gardens  of  the  Intermediate  Pumping  Station  of  the  Kimberley  Water  " 

Works  Company        .........     466 

Piece  of  Blue  Ground         .........      484 

A  Thin  Section  of  Diamond-bearing   Rock  (enlarged  3^  times)   from  the 

1320-Foot  Level  of  the  De  Beers  Mine  .....     486 

Cape  Town    ...........      562 

Mr.  Rhodes's  House 574 

Victoria  Falls  ...........      592 

The  Terrace  Garden 598 


THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF 
SOUTH    AFRICA 

SOME   ACCOUNT    OF   THEIR    RISE 
AND    DEVELOPMENT 


The  Diamond  Mines  of  South  Africa 


CHAPTER    I 

THE    ANCIENT    ADAMAS 

T  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  when  the 
blinded  Shah-Shuja  sought  refuge  in  the  lair 
of  the  "  Lion  of  Punjaub,"  Runjeet  Singh,  his 
chief  treasure  was  the  crystal  pebble  which  Nadir 
Shah  had  snatched  from  the  head  of  the  last  of 
the  Great  Moguls. 
For  the  sake  of  the  pebble,  Runjeet  starved  the  wife  and 
children  of  his  friend  until  he  was  driven  to  lay  the  Koh-i-nur 
at  the  feet  of  his  host.  "  At  what 
price  do  you  value  it?"  said  the 
Lion,  showing  his  teeth  in  a  grim 
smile. 

"At  good  luck,"  replied  the 
blind  Shah,  "  for  it  has  ever  been 
the  bosom  companion  of  him  who 
has  triumphed  over  his  enemies." 

It  may  have  been  the  tradi- 
tional talisman  of  Carna,  Rajah 
of  Anga,  fighting  in  legendary  The  Koh-i-nflr.  (ow  Cutting.) 

wars,  hundreds  of  years  before  the  great  Achilles  stormed  and 
sulked  under  the  walls  of  Troy.1  From  its  earliest  known 
appearance  it  had  been  so  coveted  that  agas  and  sultans  and 

1  "Tales  from  Indian  History,"].  Talboys  Wheeler,  assistant  secretary  of 
the  government  of  India  in  the  Foreign  Department,  Calcutta,  1881  ;  "The 
Great  Diamonds  of  the  World,"  Edwin  W.  Streeter. 


THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


rajahs  and  shahs  had  snatched  it  in  the  first  spoils  of  victory, 
or  tried  to  extort  it  by  starvation  or  blinding  or  boiling  oil  or 
some  other  device  of  torture ;  and  the  adventurous  and  blood- 
stained career  of  this  famous  diamond  is  only  one  of  many  like 

passages,  for  every  precious 
stone  of  renown  has  a  trail 
like  a  meteor.  Some  have 
gleamed  weirdly  in  the  eye- 
sockets  of  idols  in  Indian 
temples  or  flashed  from 
the  splendid  thrones  of 
emperors,  or  glittered  in 
golden  basins  amid  gems 
of  every  hue  heaped  up  in 
tribute,  or  sparkled  on  the 
crests  of  warriors,  the  tur- 
bans of  rajahs,  the  breasts 
.of  begums,  and  the  san- 
dals of  courtesans.  To 
win  them  temples  have  been  profaned,  palaces  looted,  thrones 
torn  to  fragments,  princes  tortured,  women  strangled,  guests 
poisoned  by  their  hosts,  and  slaves  disembowelled.  Some  have 
fallen  on  battlefields,  to  be  picked  up  by  ignorant  freebooters 
and  sold  for  a  few  silver  coins,  and  others  have  been  cast  into 
ditches  by  thieves  or  swallowed  by  guards,  or  sunk  in  ship- 
wrecks, or  broken  to  powder  in  moments  of  frenzy.  No  strain 
of  fancy  in  an  Arabian  tale  has  outstripped  the  marvels  of  fact 
in  the  diamond's  history. 

Among  all  the  stones  that  our  world's  fancy  holds  precious, 
the  diamond  stands  preeminent.  It  is  pure  crystallized  carbon. 
It  crystallizes  in  almost  all  the  forms  of  the  isometric  system, 
commonly  the  octahedral  or  dodecahedral,  and  frequently  with 
curved  faces.1  Two  pyramids  with  triangular  sides  and  a 

1  Dana  and  others  mention  that  diamonds  in  the  form  of  cubes  have  been  found. 
While  one  might  expect  to  find  a  diamond  in  cubic  form,  as  this  is  the  fundamental 
form  of  the  isometric  system,  still  no  specimen  of  this  form  has  come  under  the 


i.  A  Black  Diamond  in  Gold  Setting.  2.  Ordinary 
Window  Glass.  3.  A  Pink  Diamond.  (Photo- 
graphed with  the  Roentgen  Rays.) 


THE    ANCIENT   ADAMAS  3 

common  base  make  up  the  octahedron.  The  dodecahedron  has 
twelve  rhombs  or  natural  facets  of  lozenge  shape. 

It  is  the  most  impenetrable  of  all  known  substances,  for  the 
edge  of  one  of  its  facets  will  scratch  the  face  of  any  other  stone 
or  the  hardest  steel.  It  is  the  most  perfect  reflector  of  light. 
It  refracts  entering  rays  more  than  any  other  translucent  sub- 
stance except  crocolite,  the  chromate  of  lead.1  Chrysolite  alone 
exceeds  its  dispersive  power  to  dissolve  white  light  into  rainbow 
tints,  but  its  combined  powers  of  reflection,  refraction,  and  dis- 
persion are  unmatched.2  Hence  appears  the  play  of  color  in  its 
crystalline  heart  and  the  resplendent  flashing  of  its  radiant  fire. 
It  may  be  as  purely  transparent  and  colorless  as  a  drop  of  dew,  or 
it  may  display  all  the  primary  colors,  such  as  red,  orange,  yellow, 
blue,  and  violet;  so  that,  as  John  Mandeville  quaintly  observed, 
"  It  seems  to  take  pleasure  in  assuming  in  turn  the  colors  proper 
to  other  gems."  8  It  is  highly  phosphorescent.  Even  the  blackest 
of  diamonds  are  transparent  to  the  X-rays.  No  acid  will  mar  it, 
no  solvent  will  dissolve  it.  Its  brilliance  is  undecaying,  and  ages 
might  roll  by  without  rubbing  the  minutest  particle  from  its  ada- 
mantine face.  The  diamond  that  gleamed  with  such  strange  fire 
in  an  idol's  eye  before  the  rising  of  the  Star  of  Bethlehem  may  be 
sparkling  to-day  with  more  dazzling 
radiance  in  the  crown  of  an  emperor. 
Koh-i-nur  and  Darya-i-nur  and  Taj- 
e-mah  and  Regent  and  OrlofF  and 
Sancy  and  Shah  will  shine  no  less  re- 
splendent when  the  sovereigns  that 
now  treasure  them  shall  be  dust.  The  shah. 

observation  of  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  look  over  every  stone  that  comes  from  the 
South  African  mines.  The  South  African  diamonds  differ  in  appearance  from  those 
found  in  India  or  Brazil.  They  are  bright  and  without  any  incrustation,  and  the 
imperfections,  if  any,  are  visible  in  their  natural  state. 

1  "  Table  of  Indices  of  Refraction,"  Dufrenoy,  p.  87.     "  Treatise  on  Gems," 
Feuchtwanger,  New  York,  1867. 

2  "Table   of  the   Distinguishing   Characteristics   of  Gems,"     Feuchtwanger, 
pp.  494-499.      "Optical    Properties   of  the    Diamond,"    Sir    David  Brewster, 
Phil.  Trans.,  VIII,  157,  1817.          s  "  Le  Grand  Lapidaire,"  Paris,  1561. 


4  THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

"  With  the  point  of  a  diamond,"  Jeremiah  (B.C.  600)  says,1 
records  were  graven  when  stones  were  writing-tablets ;  but, 
unfortunately  for  our  knowledge,  the  diamond  did  not  tell  its 
own  story  ;  and  it  is,  at  best,  a  groping  effort  that  would  search 
out  the  rising  of  this  gem  through  the  mists  of  tradition. 

"  Thou  hast  been  in  Eden,  the  garden  of  God ;  every 
precious  stone  was  thy  covering,  the  sardius,  topaz,  and  the 
diamond,  the  beryl,  the  onyx,  and  the  jasper,  the  sapphire, 
the  emerald,  and  the  carbuncle.  Thou  wast  upon  the  holy 
mountain  of  God ;  thou  hast  walked  up  and  down  in  the  midst 
of  the  stones  of  fire."  * 

How  glowing  are  the  words  of  the  Prophet  of  the  Captivity, 
declaring  the  vainglory  forerunning  the  doom  of  Tyre's  princes 

and  people  (588  B.C.).  Did  the  three 
rivers  of  Eden  flow  through  sands  glit- 
tering with  stones  of  fire  ?  Did  the  eating 
of  a  little  green  apple  from  the  tree  of 
knowledge  open  the  eyes  of  the  first 
woman  of  earth  to  the  lure  of  the  gems 
that  are  now  so  tempting  to  every  daugh- 
ter of  Eve  ?  If  not,  how  long  was  it 

The  Egyptian  Pascha.  before     the     topaz    an(J    the     diamond,    the 

emerald  and  the  ruby  and  the  sapphire  were  added  to  the  fig- 
leaf  covering  of  our  first  parents  ? 

Multicycles  of  refining  are  needed  for  a  clear  perception  of 
beauty.  The  aboriginal  Adams  and  Eves  did  not  have  it.  The 
children  of  the  twentieth  century  will  open  their  eyes  to  its 
light  more  quickly  than  those  of  the  Stone  Age,  because  the 
children  of  to-day  inherit  the  quickened  sense  of  unnumbered 
generations,  and  are  taught  to  trace  the  range  of  beauty  in 
nature  and  art.  Prehistoric  man,  a  weakling  in  perception, 
turned  his  eyes  to  the  grand  orb  of  the  sun,  rising  above  the 
horizon  and  flooding  the  earth  with  its  rays,  to  the  pale  bow 

1  Jeremiah  xvii. 

2  Ezekiel  xviii.    13  and   14  (588  B.C.).      Babylonian  captivity  of  the  Jews 
(588-537  B.C.). 


THE   ANCIENT  ADAMAS  5 

of  the  moon  and  the  sparkling  of  the  firmament  of  stars,  to 
the  ceaseless  surge  of  the  ocean  and  the  mountain  summits 
wreathed  in  clouds,  —  to  all  the  grander  aspects  and  motions 
of  nature,  —  before  his  eyes  were  drawn  to  lesser  things  outside 
the  petty  circle  of  his  rambling  and  the  sating  of  his  crude 
animal  wants.  Mayhap  thousands  of  years  of  brutal  life  rolled 
by  before  the  savage  stooped  to  pick  up  any  one  of  the  gleam- 
ing pebbles  which  the  fierce  tiger  spurned  with  bounding  foot 
and  the  flying  deer  trampled  heedlessly  on  the  river's  bank. 

Any  one  may  guess,  and  any  one's  guess  is  as  good  as  another's, 
what  little  pebble  first  drew  the  glance  of  the  barbarian's  eye  or 
the  stoop  of  the  rover's  knee.  The  first-known  precious  stones 
of  the  world  were  undoubtedly  found  on  the  face  of  the  ground, 
without  any  wearisome  digging  or  quarrying,  as  they  lay  shin- 
ing in  the  gravel,  washed  from  hillsides  over  the  plains,  or  along 
the  courses  of  rivers  swelled  by  floods  and  sweeping  the  par- 
ings of  the  earth's  crust  to  the  sea.  Thousands  of  carnelians, 
garnets,  jasper,  amethysts,  sapphires,  rubies,  and  diamonds 
were  picked  up,  maybe  by  children  rummaging  in  gravel  beds 
or  the  clefts  of  rocks,  and  thrown  away  as  carelessly  as  splinters 
of  flint,  before  one  was  preserved  and  prized.  White  and  tinted 
shells  were  much  easier  to  collect  and  pierce  and  link  together, 
and  rude  armlets  and  leg-bands  of  copper  and  silver  and  gold 
were  easily  forged,  and  more  to  the  savage  taste  than  any  neck- 
lace of  stones.1 

When  some  of  the  precious  stones  were  lifted  and  borne 
away  from  their  beds  in  drifts  of  gravel,  they  were  valued  first 
chiefly  for  the  mystic  powers  attributed  to  pebbles  of  such  rich 
hues,  phenomenal  hardness,  and  peculiar  lustre.  One  of  them 
would  be  worn  in  a  pouch  next  to  the  bosom  as  an  amulet  or 
charm,  averting  peril,  inspiring  courage,  healing  diseases,  repell- 
ing evil  spirits,  or  winning  the  love  of  scornful  maidens.  Or, 
if  any  one  of  these  magic  stones  was  set  to  gleam  in  the  buckle 
of  a  warrior's  plume,  it  was  less  for  a  show  of  ornament  than  for 

1  "A  Treatise  on  Diamonds  and  Precious  Stones,"  John  Mawe,  London, 
1813. 


6          THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

its  mystic  shielding  power  and  redoubling  of  valor.  The  tradi- 
tion of  these  virtues  has  passed  from  generation  to  generation, 
and  still  finds  credence  among  the  masses  of  Asia.  The  poor 
natives  of  India  believe  to  this  day  in  the  efficacy  of  sapphires 
and  rubies  in  purifying  the  blood,  strengthening  the  body, 
quenching  thirst,  dispelling  melancholy,  averting  danger,  and 
assuring  honor  and  fortune.  The  emerald  in  their  eyes  is 
potent  to  dispel  bad  dreams,  give  courage,  and  cure  palsies, 
colds,  and  acute  dysentery.  The  turquoise  they  say  will  brighten 
and  heal  weak  and  sore  eyes,  and  serve  as  an  antidote  for  veno- 
mous snake  bites.1  Like  the  other  precious  stones,  the  diamond 
was  early  endowed  by  fancy  with  medical  virtues,  and  particu- 
larly prized  as  a  safeguard  from  madness,  in  its  power  to  "  raze 
out  the  written  troubles  of  the  brain."2  It  was  also  believed  to 
be  potent  to  touch  the  heart,  and  there  is  a  pretty  conceit  that 
the  darts  of  Cupid  were  diamond  tipped.  Perhaps  the  passion 
of  women  for  gems  gave  point  to  this  fiction. 

As  the  diverse  stones  of  fire  became  better  known  and  more 
sharply  distinguished,  special  significance  was  given  to  each  by 
some  nations  of  the  East,  associating  them  with  the  planets, 
the  march  of  the  seasons,  or  with  various  divinities.  Sometimes 
they  were  of  emblematic  service.  For  the  representation  of  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  twelve  distinct  gems  were  set  in  gold 
plates  on  the  robe  of  the  high-priest.3  When  the  rise  of  letters 
and  the  fine  arts  brought  the  devising  of  symbols  and  graven 
inscriptions,  the  supposed  potency  of  these  stone  amulets  was 
increased  by  the  craft  of  priests  and  sorcerers,  cutting  the  face 
of  the  charms  themselves  or  directing  the  hands  of  expert  work- 

1  "Oriental  Accounts  of  Precious  Minerals,"  Journal  of  Asiatic  Society  of 
Bengal,  August,  1832. 

2  "Treatise  on  Gems,"  Feuchtwanger,  New  York,  1867. 

8  Exodus  xxviii.  "Natural  History  of  the  Bible,"  Thaddeus  M.  Harris, 
Boston,  1820.  "Precious  Stones  in  their  Scientific  and  Artistic  Relations,"  A. 
H.  Church,  London,  1883.  "  De  Duodecim  Gemmis  in  Veste  Aaronis." 
Epiphanius,  1565.  John  Peter  Lange,  Professor  University  of  Bonn,  in  Schaff's 
' «  Critical,  Doctrinal,  and  Homiletical  Commentary  ' '  on  the  Bible. 


THE   ANCIENT  ADAMAS  7 

men.  The  Chaldeans  are  especially  charged  with  the  fomenting 
of  superstitions  by  the  exaggeration  of  this  conceit.  These 
engraved  stones  served  often  as  distinctive  seals,  and  for  con- 
venience in  carrying  and  the  gratification  of  a  spreading  taste  for 
such  ornaments,  the  talismans  were  set  in  rings  and  clasps.  So 
Solomon's  seal,  summoning  and  mastering  genii,  was  the  wonder 
of  legends,  and  so,  too,  the  famous  ring  of  Polycrates  and  the 
rival  marvels  of  Oriental  romancers  familiar  in  the  tales  of  the 
"  Arabian  Nights." 

As  time  and  art  disclosed  more  and  more  of  the  marvels  of 
the  stones  of  fire  in  the  crust  of  the  earth,  the  wonder  grew  and 
the  supernatural  potency  of  the  various  gems  was  more  deeply 
impressed.  Thus  we  reach  the  belief  and  tribute  of  the  priest 
Onomacritus  (500  B.C.),  who  declared  of  the  lucent  crystal, 
"  Whoso  goes  into  the  temple  with  this  in  his  hand  may  be 
sure  of  having  his  prayer  granted,  as  the  gods  cannot  withstand 
its  power."  Its  use  to  concentrate  the  sun's  rays  as  a  burning 
glass  was  highly  prized  also  in  priestly  ministrations. 

Onomacritus  says  crudely  of  this  use  that  "  when  a  trans- 
parent crystal  is  laid  on  wood,  so  that  the  sun's  rays  may  shine 
upon  it,  there  will  soon  be  seen  smoke,  then  fire,  then  a  bright 
flame."  Fire  kindled  through  this  agency  was  holy  in  the 
sight  of  priests  and  people,  and  no  burnt  offering  was  so  pleas- 
ing to  the  gods  as  one  set  in  these  sacred  flames. 

The  precious  stones  are  so  greatly  dependent  upon  the  ad- 
vance in  the  art  of  polishing  and  cutting  for  the  revelation  of 
their  qualities  and  beauty  that  it  was  doubtless  long  after  their  dis- 
covery before  they  came  into  any  considerable  use  as  ornaments. 
Their  hardness  defied,  at  first,  any  effort  to  fashion  their  shape 
with  primitive  tools.  The  most  that  could  be  effected  was  the 
rude  polish  that  might  be  obtained  by  the  tedious  rubbing  of 
the  face  of  one  stone  against  another.  But,  as  time  went  on, 
the  lines  of  natural  cleavage  were  noted,  and  grinding  wheels 
in  the  hands  of  skilful  artisans  gave  a  smooth  face  to  the  natural 
contours  of  the  softer  stones,  and,  later,  even  to  the  sapphire 
1  "  Precious  Stones  and  Gems,"  Streeter. 


8  THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

and  diamond.  With  the  advance  in  art  the  demand  for  precious 
stones  increased  apace,  and,  to  meet  the  demand,  keener  and 
wider  ranging  searches  developed  new  and  greater  supplies. 

There  is  a  certain  tracing  of  the  use  of 
precious  stones  for  ornaments  to  the  ancient 
Babylonian  civilization,  whose  existing  ruins 
extend  back  to  from  6000  to  7000  years  B.C.1 
Babylonian  lapidaries  were  cutting  and  polish- 
ing carnelians,  sards,  onyx,  and  rock  crystals 
before  the  Egyptians  had  advanced  beyond 

The  Polar  Star.  i  •  c     \     •  r  •  T-I  i 

the  carving  or  their  sort  steatite.  1  hen  the 
Phoenicians  drew  from  all  parts  of  the  known  earth  its  treasures.2 
So  Ezekiel  testifies  of  Tyre :  "  Syria  was  thy  merchant  by 
reason  of  the  multitude  of  wares  of  thy  making :  they  occupied 
in  thy  fairs  with  emeralds,  purple  and  broidered  work  and  fine 
linen  and  coral  and  agate.  The  merchants  of  Sheba  and  Raamah, 
they  were  thy  merchants :  they  occupied  in  thy  fairs  with  chief 
of  all  spices,  and  with  all  precious  stones,  and  gold." 

Judea  had  some  share  of  this  stream.  The  Queen  of  Sheba 
bore  a  "great  store  of  precious  stones  "  to  Solomon  (B.C.  101 5-975) 
with  her  tribute  of  gold,4  but  this  was  a 
trivial  trickle  compared  with  the  flow  to 
Phoenicia  and  Babylonia.  Long  before  the 
days  of  the  Captivity  (B.C.  598),'  the  robes 
of  the  princes  and  nobles  of  these  rich  realms 
were  glittering  with  jewels,  and  their  gor- 
geous array  was  the  marvel  of  the  poor  The  Hope  Blue, 
exiles,  crying  with  the  voice  of  their  prophet,  Ezekiel :  "  Every 

1  "  Encyclopedia  of  Religious   Knowledge,"    SchafF-Herzog.      "Archaeology 
of  the   Past   Century,"  Professor  W.   M.  F.   Petrie. 

2  The  Story  of  the  Nations,  "  Phoenicia,"  George  Rawlinson,  M.A. 

3  Ezekiel  xxvii.  22. 

4  "  Old    Testament    History,"    William    Smith.      "Precious    Stones  in   the 
Scriptures,"  R.  Hindmarsh,  London,  1851. 

5  Date  of  removal  of  Jehoiachin,  according  to  Prideaux  and  to  Clinton.     Ewald 
makes  the  date  597  B.C. 


THE   ANCIENT   ADAMAS  9 

precious  stone  was  thy  covering.  Thou  hast  walked  up  and  down 
in  the  midst  of  the  stones  of  fire."  As  tradition  placed  the  garden 
of  Eden  in  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates,  Ezekiel  makes  the  gar- 
den typical  of  the  splendor  of  Babylon  in  his  fervid  outpouring. 

How  the  stones  of  fire  were  brought  into  being  in  the  garden 
of  Eden  or  elsewhere,  Ezekiel  was  not  moved  to  reveal,  and  the 
savants  that  have  sought  to  tell  are  but  groping  seers.  When  a 
sprinkling  of  stones  was  uncovered  by  the  rains  and  floods,  or 
dug  and  washed  from  the  beds  of  gravel,  or  traced  by  rude  min- 
ing through  clay  or  conglomerate  layers  or  enclosing  rocks,  there 
was  still  no  widespread  knowledge  of  the  deposits,  and  even 
among  the  most  familiar  with  the  search  there  was  ever  the 
hope  of  finding,  some  day,  some  marvellous  store.  Hence 
sprung  up  the  romances.  Even  in  the  days  when  the  sharp 
tooth  of  history  had  cut  into  legends,  a  story  was  told  of  the 
climbing  of  Zulmat  by  the  great  Alexander,  to  the  rim  of  the 
inaccessible  valley,  where,  beneath  sheer  precipices,  glittered  a 
coverlet  of  the  stones  of  fire.  There  was  no  way  of  winning  the 
diamonds  that  glowed  so  temptingly  except  by  flinging  down 
masses  of  flesh  and  waiting  for  swooping  vultures  to  bear  the 
lumps  up  to  their  perches  on  the  mountain  with  precious  stones 
sticking  in  the  meat.1 

Sindbad  the  sailor  had  this  tale  in  mind  fortunately  in  his 
second  voyage.  It  will  be  remembered  that  he  was  stranded 
by  shipwreck  on  a  desert  island  and  carried  away  by  the  flight 
of  a  gigantic  rukh  to  the  top  of  a  distant  mountain.  From 
this  mountain  he  descended  into  a  neighboring  "  valley,  exceed- 
ing great  and  wide  and  deep  and  bounded  by  vast  mountains 
that  spired  high  in  air."  Walking  along  the  wady,  he  found 
that  "  its  soil  was  of  diamond,  the  stone  wherewith  they  pierce 
minerals  and  precious  stones  and  porcelain  and  the  onyx,  for 
that  it  is  a  dense  stone  and  a  stubborn,  whereon  neither  iron  or 
hardhead  hath  effect,  neither  can  we  cut  off"  aught  therefrom, 
nor  break  it  save  by  means  of  lead  stone." 

1  "  Oriental  Accounts  of  Precious  Minerals,"  Journal  of  Asiatic  Society  of  Ben- 
gal, August,  1832. 


io        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 

Luckily  for  the  sailor,  his  descent  was  by  day,  for  "  the  val- 
ley swarmed  with  snakes  and  vipers,  each  as  big  as  a  palm  tree, 
that  would  have  made  but  one  gulp  of  an  elephant ;  and  they 
came  out  by  night,  hiding  during  the  day,  lest  the  rukhs  and 
eagles  pounce  on  them  and  tear  them  to  pieces."  In  view  of 
the  horrid  prospect  of  soon  dropping  through  the  throat  of  one 
of  these  snakes,  Sindbad  began  to  wish  that  he  had  not  flown 
away  from  the  island,  where  he  was,  at  least,  out  of  reach  of  vast 
vipers,  but  he  soon  bethought  himself  of  the  old  story  of  the 
valley  from  which  diamond-studded  meat  was  "plucked  by 
eagles."  So  he  quickly  filled  his  pockets  and  shawl  girdle  and 
turban  with  the  choicest  diamonds.  Then  he  put  a  piece  of  raw 
meat  on  his  breast  and  lay  down  on  his  back.  Soon  a  big 
eagle  swooped  into  the  valley,  clutched  the  meat  in  his  talons, 
and  flew  up  to  a  mountain  above,  "  where,  dropping  the  carcass, 
he  fell  to  rending  it,"  leaving  the  lucky  sailor  to  scramble  off" 
with  his  booty.  He  gave  a  parcel  of  the  diamonds  to  the  dis- 
appointed merchant,  who  had  cast  down  the  meat,  but  he  had 
stuffed  his  clothes  so  full  of  the  gems  that  he  went  home,  after 
some  strange  sight-seeing,  with  a  great  store  of  diamonds  and 
money  and  goods.1 

This  amazing  tale  is  less  teeming  with  interest  than  it  was  in 
the  days  when  it  was  first  told,  for,  even  hundreds  of  years 
afterwards,  diamond-lined  valleys  and  monstrous  rukhs  and 
snakes  that  could  gulp  down  elephants  were  not  beyond  cre- 
dence. If  in  valleys  there  might  be  a  diamond  lining,  why 
should  there  not  be  a  massing  of  diamonds  and  rubies  in  the 
dwellings  of  genii  in  caves,  awaiting  the  entry  of  some  lucky 
Aladdin  ?  Oriental  fancy,  teeming  with  visions,  disdained  any 
curbing  within  the  petty  confines  of  crawling  experience,  and  was 
prolific  in  marvels  far  more  pleasing  to  the  masses  that  egged 
on  the  story-tellers  with  craving  credulity.  Who  then  could 
explode  these  bubbles  with  any  sharp  prick  of  positive  contra- 
diction ?  Even  if  in  all  known  fields  the  precious  stones  were 
gathered  by  toilsome  searches  only  rarely  rewarded,  who  had  the 
1  "Arabian  Nights,"  Lady  Burton's  edition,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  476-482. 


THE   ANCIENT  ADAMAS  n 

range  of  knowledge  to  deny  the  possible  existence  of  caverns 
filled  with  rubies  or  mountain  summits  studded  with  diamonds  ? 

Seeing  that  to  this  day  so  little  can  be  asserted  positively  of 
the  forming  of  the  precious  stones  scattered  in  the  earth's  crust, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  the  origin  of  the  stones  of  fire  has  been, 
from  the  first,  a  baffling  puzzle  and  a  fountain-head  of  conflict- 
ing surmises.  Some  wondering  people  viewed  them  as  splin- 
ters dropping  from  the  stars,  and  some,  as  the  creations  or 
transformations  of  genii.  Some  Hindoo  miners  still  believe 
that  diamonds  grow  like  onions,  though  much  less  quickly,  and 
that  their  age  is  marked  by  the  difference  in  their  size  and 
quality.  Others  suppose  the  common  rock  crystals  to  be 
immature  diamonds,  and  the  distinction  is  marked  by  calling 
the  rock  crystal  kacha  (unripe),  while  the  diamond  is  pakka 
(ripe).1 

For  the  ripening  of  the  crystals  and  the  quickening  of  their 
seeming  inward  fire,  the  lightning  bolts,  that  sometimes  rived 
the  ground,  were  thought  to  be  potent.  Others  again,  observ- 
ing the  liquid  purity  and  likeness  which  is  marked  to  this  day 
in  the  term  "  diamonds  of  the  purest  water,"  attributed  the 
forming  of  the  crystals  to  the  supernormal  trickle  and  hardening 
of  dewdrops.  It  is  of  this  fancy  that  Dryden  makes  poetic  use 
in  his  likening  of  the  tears  of  Almahide  :  — 

"  What  precious  drops  are  those, 

Which  silently  each  other's  track  pursue, 

Bright  as  young  diamonds  in  their  infant  dew  ? ' ' 

Bizarre  speculation  was  stretched  even  to  the  point  of  attrib- 
uting to  these  strange  crystals  animal  instincts  and  reproductive 
powers.  Thus  Barreto  is  quoted  in  the  dictionary  of  Antonio 
de  Moraes  Silva  as  saying  :  — 

"  Que  os  diamantes  se  unem,  amam  e  procream."  3 

1  "Oriental  Accounts  of  Precious  Minerals."      Translation  by  Rajah  Kalikis- 
ken,  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal. 

2  "The  Conquest  of  Granada,"  Second  Part,  Act  III,  Scene  I,  Dryden. 

3  "  Commonplace  Book,"  Second  Series,  p.  668,  Southey. 


12        THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

The  tradition  of  the  generative  power  of  this  marvellous 
crystal  originates  with  the  Hindoos,  and  to  this  day  the 
natives  of  Pharrah  will  affirm  that  the  diamond  beds  yield 
fresh  supplies  of  well-grown  stones  at  intervals  of  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  years. 

It  is  seemingly  hopeless  to  attempt  to  fix  with  any  certainty 
the  time  when  the  diamond  was  first  singled  out  from  the  peb- 
bles in  which  it  lay,  and  was  prized  by  any  one,  or  even  when  it 
entered  the  list  of  gems  known  to  the  chief  nations  of  Asia. 
Traditions  coming  down  through  the  mists  of  legendary  ages  are 
conflicting  and  uncertain  reliances  at  best.  The  ancient  writers 
add  to  this  perplexity  by  loose  or  erroneous  descriptions  when 
the  advance  of  the  science  had  not  marked  precise  distinctions 
of  structure  and  composition.  Thus  the  Carbunculus  of  Pliny 
was  probably  stretched  to  cover  the  spinal  or  Balas  ruby,  the 
garnet  and  other  red  stones,  besides  embracing  the  Anthrax  of 
Theophrastus  or  our  modern  ruby.  Many  ancient  writers  con- 
founded also  under  the  general  term  Smaragdus  various  dis- 
tinct minerals  of  green  color,  not  only  the  true  emerald,  but 
green  jasper,  malachite,  chryscolla,  and  fluor  spar.1  Among  the 
common  people,  pretending  to  no  mineralogical  knowledge, 
there  was  less  thought  of  distinction,  and,  in  days  approaching 
our  own,  Tavernier  observes  in  his  travels,  A.D.  1669,  after 
describing  the  true  ruby  of  Pegu,  in  Ceylon,  "  the  fatherland 
of  rubies,"  that  "  all  other  stones  in  this  country  are  called  by 
the  name  Ruby,  and  are  only  distinguished  by  color,  thus,  in 
the  language  of  Pegu,  the  sapphire  is  a  Blue  Ruby,"  etc.2  This 
confusion  is  not  surprising,  and  a  much  more  discreditable  one 
occurred  within  the  last  thirty  years  in  the  sensational  touting 
of  the  discovery  of  rubies  in  the  garnets  of  the"  Macdonnell 
Ranges  in  South  Australia.  It  seems  highly  probable  that  the 
stone  of  exquisite  blue,  now  particularly  distinguished  as  the 
typical  sapphire,  was  the  ancient  Hyacinthus ;  and  the  Sap- 
phirus  of  the  ancients  certainly  included  the  lapis  lazuli  and 

1  "  Precious  Stones  and  Gems,"  Streeter,  London,  1892. 

*  "Voyages  en  Turquie,  en  Perse  et  aux  Indes,"   Paris,  1676. 


THE   ANCIENT  ADAMAS  13 

covered  the  range  of  corundums  of  every  tint  except  red.  Thus 
green  sapphires  are  noted,  although  very  rarely,  and  yellow  and 
gray,  as  well  as  pure  white  or  colorless,  and  this  stone  is  pre- 
sumed by  Streeter  and  other  investigators  to  have  been  the 
"  adamas  "  first  known  to  the  Greeks.1 

There  can  be  no  question  that  sapphires  or  corundums  of 
varied  hue  were  much  more  common  than  diamonds  in  the  hands 
of  the  merchants  of  the  East  or  any  other  ancient  collectors  before 
the  Christian  era.  The  sapphire  was,  indeed,  one  of  the  most 
widely  known  of  all  gems,  and  how  highly  it  was  valued  may  be 
surmised  from  the  dignity  given  to  it  by  the  sacred  writers.  The 
prophet  Ezekiel  likens  to  a  "  Sapphire  stone  "  the  appearance  of 
the  throne  in  the  firmament  above  the  cherubim.  Job  makes 
it  the  representative  of  all  gems  in  his  splendid  description  of  the 
daring  of  miners.2 

Like  the  sapphire,  the  diamond  is  repeatedly  referred  to  by 
the  Hebrew  writers.  It  formed  one  of  the  typical  stones  in  the 
high  priest's  breastplate,  and  Ezekiel  puts  it  in  the  first  rank  of 
the  stones  of  fire.  Jeremiah  speaks  of  the  sin  of  Judah  as  written 
with  the  point  of  a  diamond,  "  puncto  adamantinis"  of  the  Latin 
Bible,  but  Streeter  holds  that  this  pen  point  was  probably  a 
corundum  and  not  the  true  diamond.3 

This  is  a  stretch  of  assumption  largely  based  upon  the  lack 
of  any  precise  description  applying  to  the  diamond  until  close  to 
the  beginning  of  the  first  century  of  our  reckoning.  Adamas, 
the  indomitable,  the  adamant  of  the  ancients,  was  the  name  given 
to  the  diamond  because  of  its  distinguishing  hardness.  Pliny 
was  greatly  impressed  by  what  he  heard  of  this  characteristic, 
but  obviously  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  stone  by  personal 
handling  or  test.  For  he  wrote  down  soberly :  "  The  most 
valuable  thing  on  earth  is  the  Diamond,  known  only  to  kings, 
and  to  them  imperfectly.  It  is  only  engendered  in  the  finest 
gold.  Six  different  kinds  are  known,  among  these  the  Indian 

^'Traite  de  Mineralogie,  avec  application  aux  Arts,"  Brongniart,  Paris, 
1807. 

2  Job  xxviii.  i-i  I.  3  "  Precious  Stones  and  Gems,"  Streeter. 


14        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

and  Arabian  of  such  indomitable,  unspeakable  hardness,  that 
when  laid  on  the  anvil  it  gives  the  blow  back  in  such  force  as  to 
shiver  the  hammer  and  anvil  to  pieces.1 

Unfortunately  for  the  aim  of  identifying  the  diamond  with 
the  references  to  the  ancient  adamas,  the  term  was  commonly  and 
loosely  applied  to  any  substance  of  peculiar  hardness.  So  moun- 
tains of  iron-stone,  like  unto  that  upon  which  the  ship  of  Sindbad 
was  dashed,  were  called  adamant,  and  so  too  were  the  arms  and 
armor  of  gods  and  heroes.  Addison  only  transmits  a  tradition 
in  the  fine  lines  of  his  poem  — 

"  And  mighty  Mars,  for  war  renowned, 
In  adamantine  armor  frowned."  2 

In  Homer,  as  Streeter  notes,  adamas  occurs  only  as  a  per- 
sonal name,  and  in  Hesiod,  Pindar,  and  other  early  Greek  poets 
it  is  used  to  signify  any  hard  weapon  or  metal  like  steel  or  an 
alloy  of  the  harder  metals.8  No  distinct  identification  of  the 
diamond  with  adamas  appears,  according  to  Streeter's  view,  until 
the  first  century  A.D.,  in  the  writings  of  the  Latin  poet  and  astron- 
omer Manilius,  and  his  contemporary  Pliny  (A.D.  62-114).  In 
the  fourth  book  of  Manilius's  poem  "  Astronomicum,"  occurs 
this  line,  "  Sic  Adamas,  punctum  lapidis,  pretiosior  auro,"  which, 
Streeter  says,  "  is  supposed  to  be  the  earliest  indubitable  reference 
to  the  true  diamond."  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  this  "  stone's 
point,  more  precious  than  gold,"  is  any  more  distinct  and  indubi- 
table in  its  reference  to  the  diamond  than  the  diamond  pen  point 
of  Jeremiah  hundreds  of  years  before.  But  Pliny,  with  all  his 
erroneous  amplifications,  unquestionably  describes  the  true  Indian 
diamond  as  "  colorless,  transparent,  with  polished  facets  and  six 
angles  ending  either  in  a  pyramid  with  a  sharp  point  or  with  two 
points  like  whipping  tops  joined  at  the  base."  * 

1  "Historia  Naturalis,"  XXXVII,  15. 

2  Poem  addressed  to  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  referring  to  William  III.  of  England. 

3  "  aSa/jas  ytvos  otSvrjov,"  -^schylus.      See  Stanley's  Commentary  on  ^Eschy- 
lus,  "Prometheus  Vinctus." 

4  Plinii  Secundi  (Caii),  "  Naturalis  Historia,"  XXXVII,  15. 


THE    ANCIENT   ADAMAS  15 

In  view  of  the  hardness  of  the  sapphire,  so  great  that  it  will 
scratch  every  other  precious  stone  except  the  diamond,  it  is  there- 
fore contended  that  this  was  the  stone  known  to  the  earliest 
Greek  writers  as  adamas.1  This  may  be  so,  and  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that,  even  at  a  much  later  day,  a  white  corundum  or  a 
pale  yellow  topaz  or  a  good  rock  crystal  often  passed  for  a  dia- 
mond in  the  hands  of  collectors  or  in  the  sharp  practice  of  gem 
selling.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  blundering  of  the  Greeks 
or  the  application  of  adamas,  there  is,  nevertheless,  no  sufficient 
reason  in  this  for  questioning  the  probability  that  genuine  dia- 
monds were  found  in  the  gravels  of  India  many  centuries  before  the 
Christian  era.  As  far  back  as  tradition  goes  the  largest  stones 
were  particularly  prized  by  the  native  princes, 
and  were  strictly  exacted  in  tribute  from  the 
diamond-bed  washers.  But  the  smaller  stones 
were  less  jealously  guarded,  and  may  readily 
have  found  their  way  into  the  hands  of  traders 
with  the  other  peoples  of  Asia  or  with  Egypt. 
It  seems  most  probable  that  the  Jews  derived 
their  first  knowledge  of  precious  stones  from  The  Empress  Eugenie- 
the  Egyptians  chiefly,  for  the  Hebrew  names  of  the  stones  are 
of  Egyptian  derivation.2  Thus  there  is  no  approach  to  certainty 
for  the  assumption  that  the  stones  called  diamonds  in  the  English 
version  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  were  not  rightly  named,  or 
that  allusions  to  the  diamond  in  other  ancient  writings  were 
wholly  unreliable  or  mistaken. 

The  main  support  for  the  questioning  of  the  mingling  of 
diamonds  with  the  other  gems  noted  by  the  ancient  writers  is 
the  apparent  failure  to  uncover  diamonds  in  the  excavations  on 
the  site  of  ancient  temples  and  cities  where  other  precious  stones 
are  brought  to  light.  Thus  emeralds  and  other  gems  in  various 
settings  have  been  exhumed  from  the  volcanic  overflow  that 

1  "History  of  Stones,"  Theophrastus.      Edited   by  Sir  John   Hill,   London, 
1746.      "  Elem.   de    Min.,"    Lessing,   II,   61.      "The  Great   Diamonds  of  the 
World,"  Streeter. 

2  "  Encyclopedia  of  Religious  Knowledge,"  Schaff-Herzog. 


i6        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

buried  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  from  the  ruins  of  old  Rome, 
and  the  tombs  of  Egypt.1  In  the  course  of  explorations  on  the 
site  of  Curium  and  other  ancient  towns  in  Cyprus,  scarabs 
and  scaraboids  of  agate,  onyx,  jasper,  and  variously  tinted  car- 
nelians  were  found,  as  well  as  gold  ornaments,  relics  traced  to  the 
days  of  Eteandros,  king  of  Paphos  in  the  seventh  century  B.C.  ; 
but  no  diamonds  were  unearthed  in  this  collection.'2  Nor  is 

there  record,  as  yet,  of  the  discovery  of 
diamonds  in  the  explorations  in  Baby- 
lonia.3 

But  this  is,  at  most,  evidence  pointing 
to  what  is  undoubted,  —  the  comparative 
rarity  of  the  diamond  among  the  gems 
that  served  as  amulets  or  ornaments  for 
the  people  of  western  Asia,  northern 

The  Nassak.  n  r  •  T> 

Atrica,  or  southern  Europe  prior  to  the 

Christian  era  and  for  centuries  afterward.  Pliny  expressly  asserts 
this  rarity  in  his  allusion  to  the  diamond  ;  but  the  fact  that  the 
gem  was  scarce,  outside  of  India,  is  entirely  compatible  with  its 
occasional  inclusion  in  the  collections  of  sovereigns,  which  the 
same  writer  remarks,  and  the  high  value  set  upon  it  would 
naturally  limit  its  use  as  an  ornament. 

It  is  impossible  to  mark  with  any  precision  in  what  district 
of  India  a  search  for  diamonds  first  began.  Rajah  Sourindo 
Mohun  Tagore,  in  his  account  of  the  precious  stones  of  India, 
gives  the  names  of  eight  localities  in  which  diamonds  have  been 
found  according  to  tradition  or  more  certain  report.  These  are 
Harma  (Himalayas),  Matanga  (Kistna),  and  Godaveri  (or  Gol- 
conda),  Saurashtra  (Surat),  Paunda  (probably  including  the  Chutia 
Nagpur  Province),  Kalinga  (the  tract  between  Orissa  and  the 
Godaveri),  Kosala  (the  modern  Ajodhya  or  Berar),  Vera  Ganga 

1  Clarke's  »  Travels,"  Vol.  VIII,  p.  150. 

2  Story  of  the  Nations,  "  Phoenicia,"  George  Rawlinson. 

3  "Nineveh  and    Babylon,"   pp.   160—161,  602    et  seq.,   Layard  ;   "  Arch- 
asologyofthe  Past  Century,"  Professor  W.  M.  F.  Petrie. 


THE   ANCIENT   ADAMAS 


(the  Wemganga),  and  Saubira  (the  stretch  between  the  Sarhund 
and   Indus  rivers).1 

According  to  this  showing  the  diamond  is  scattered  over  a 
wide  ranging  region,  but  it  occurs  everywhere  in  one  of  two 
comprehensive  formations,  —  alluvial  or  otherwise  disintegrated 
surface  deposits,  and  conglomerate  rocks  of  far  receding  geo- 
logic antiquity,  belonging  to  the  Vindyhan  formation,  which 
borrows  its  name  from  the  Vindyhan  Hills  of  old  geographers.2 
It  seems  reasonable  to  presume  that  the  surface  wash  comes 
from  the  disintegration  of  the  seat  of  the  diamond  in  con- 
glomerate beds,  —  for  even  in  alluvial  gravels  there  are  fre- 
quently no  diamonds  found  outside  of  a  conglomerate  of 
rounded  pebbles  and  sandstone  breccia.  It  is  likely  that  the 
first  diamonds  were  taken  from  the  surface  wash  and  that  the 
more  solid  breccia  was  opened  later. 

In  some  of  the  diamond-bearing  districts  of  India  to-day 
the  native  villagers  are  searching  for  diamonds  exactly  as  their 
fathers  did  in  days  of  remotest  tradition.  After  a  heavy  rain 
that  washes  away  loose  soil,  a 
sprinkling  of  diamonds  may  be 
found  in  exposed  sandstone  brec- 
cia, and  sharp-eyed  Hindoos 
scrape  the  face  of  the  ground  for 
the  precious  crystals. 

Along  the  banks  of  the  Kistna 
and  Godaveri  rivers  the  Golconda 
of  tradition  outstretched,  and  this 
diamond-studded  ground  came 
later  into  the  hands  of  the  Nizam 
of  Hyderabad,  and  was  included  The  Great  Mogul. 

in  the  bounds  of  the  Madras  Presidency.  Here,  it  is  claimed, 
was  the  bed  of  the  Koh-i-nur  and  Regent  and  Great  Mogul, 
and  others  of  the  jewels  most  renowned  in  history  and  romance. 
Here,  of  a  certainty,  was  the  richest  diamond  field  in  India,  in 

1  "Mani  Mala,"  Calcutta,   1879. 

2  "Manual  of  Geological  Survey  of  India,"  Professor  V.  Ball,  Vol.  III. 


i8        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

the  days  of  Tavernier's  travels  (1669  A.D.).  Here  was  the 
famous  mine,  "  Gani-Coulour,"  that  he  saw,  where  sixty  thou- 
sand natives  were  then  at  work,  and  "  Gani-Parteal,"  and 
twenty  more  of  lesser  note.1  Gani-Coulour  has  probably  been 
identified  with  the  modern  Kolur  on  the  Kistna,  Gani  being 
simply  a  slight  change  of  the  Persian  "  Kan-i "  or  "mine  of," 
so  that  Gani-Coulour  is  the  mine  of  Kolur  as  Gani-Parteal  is 
the  mine  of  Parteal.2  The  surface  ground  of  this  district  along 
the  rivers  is  a  black  "  cotton  soil  "  washed  down  by  floods,  and 
underlying  this  at  an  average  depth  of  twenty  feet  is  a  layer  of 
broken  sandstone,  quartz,  jasper,  flint,  and  granite,  interspersed 
with  masses  of  calcareous  conglomerate,  forming  the  stratum  in 
which  the  diamonds  were  embedded.  When  the  black  soil  had 
been  dug  up  laboriously  and  carried  away,  the  diamond-bearing 
layer  was  exposed,  and  was  removed,  piecemeal,  to  level  stretches 
of  ground  or  prepared  floors,  where  it  was  scraped  and  picked 
over  by  hand  to  find  the  diamonds. 

The  whole  of  this  rich  mining  district  and  a  tract  stretching 
for  many  miles  away  was  loosely  called  Golconda,  or  the  King- 
dom of  Golconda,  by  foreign  traders  and  travellers,  because  the 
town  of  Golconda  was  its  capital  and  the  trading  centre  where 
the  diamonds  from  the  mines  were  chiefly  bought  and  sold. 
The  only  mark  of  this  old  mart  to-day  is  a  deserted  fort  near 
Hyderabad,  but  its  fame  will  endure  until  traditionary  Golconda 
ceases  to  be  a  standard  of  riches. 

Next  in  importance  and  prestige  to  the  mines  of  Golconda 
was  the  diamond  field  of  Sumbulpur,  in  the  Central  Provinces, 
between  the  rivers  Mahanadi  and  Brahmini.  The  diamonds  of 
this  district  were  remarkable  for  their  purity  and  beauty,  though 
no  very  large  crystals  have  been  traced  to  this  region,  and  the 
few  which  the  washings  still  yield  rank  with  the  finest  of  the 
Indian  stones.  Here  the  precious  stones  were  found  chiefly 
along  the  course  of  the  Mahanadi,  in  a  stratum  of  tough  clay 
and  pebbles  stained  reddish  by  iron  oxide.  At  the  opening  of 

1  "Voyages  en  Turquie,  en  Perse  et  aux  Indes,"  Tavernier,  Paris,  1676. 

2  "  Manual  of  Geological  Survey  of  India,"  Vol.  III. 


THE   ANCIENT   ADAMAS  19 

the  dry  season,  thousands  of  villagers,  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, began  to  search  every  cleft  and  cranny  in  the  river  beds 
for  diamonds.  With  ankovas,  or  light  picks,  the  men  broke 
and  scraped  out  the  diamond-bearing  bed  and  piled  the  broken 
ground  on  the  river  bank.  Then  the  women  scooped  up 
ground  from  the  heaps  with  their  daers.  These  were  shovel- 
shaped  boards,  about  five  feet  long,  with  ridged  sides  and  hol- 
lowed in  the  centre.  Resting  one  end  of  the  daer  on  the 
ground  and  tilting  the  other  slightly,  they  washed  away  the  clay 
and  sand  and  picked  off  the  rock  splinters  and  larger  pebbles. 
After  this  rude  sorting  they  spread  out  the  finer  gravel  on  a 
smaller  board,  the  kootla,  and  scraped  it  over  very  carefully  to 
separate  the  diamond  crystals  and  grains  of  gold.  When  there 
was  a  level  stretch  along  a  bank,  the  native  workers  would  some- 
times make  an  enclosure  on  this  flat,  with  a  low  wall  pierced  at 
several  points  by  small  waterways.  Then  they  would  dump 
the  diamond-bearing  ground  into  this  shallow  basin  and  wash 
away  the  clay  and  dirt  with  running  water.  After  two  or  three 
washings  they  would  pick  out  the  larger  stones  from  the  cleaned 
gravel,  and  dry  the  remainder,  to  be  picked  over  on  their  kootlas 
or  on  any  smooth,  hard  flooring. 

Perhaps  the  most  laborious  diamond  digging  in  India  has 
been  in  the  pits  of  Panna  and  neighboring  villages  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Bundelkhund.  Here  the  diamond-bearing  conglomerate 
was  buried  under  a  cover  of  heavy  ground,  ranging  in  places 
over  thirty  feet  in  thickness.  To  reach  the  diamond  strata  large 
pits  were  dug,  with  inclines  leading  to  the  bottom  in  or  below  the 
conglomerate.  There  was  no  drainage,  and  the  diamond  diggers 
were  forced  to  work  in  the  rainy  season  knee-deep  in  water, 
breaking  the  conglomerate,  and  filling  baskets  which  were  hauled 
by  hand  to  the  top  of  the  pits.  In  this  primitive  fashion  the 
diamond  beds  of  India  were  opened,  and  diamonds  are  to-day 
won  by  these  simple  methods  or  others  essentially  similar.1 

1  "A  Treatise  on  Diamonds  and  Precious  Stones,"  John  Mawe,  London, 
1813.  "  A  Treatise  on  Gems,"  Feuchtwanger,  New  York,  1867.  "Precious 
Stones  and  Gems,"  Streeter,  London,  1892. 


20        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Color  and  size  were  the  chief  distinction  in  diamonds,  as  in 
the  other  precious  stones,  in  the  early  days  before  the  advance 
of  the  art  of  diamond  cutting  which  has  added  so  greatly  to  the 
brilliancy  and  beauty  of  this  gem.  Centuries  ran  by  before 
the  ancient  lapidaries  attempted  more  than  the  polishing  of  the 
surfaces  of  the  natural  facets  of  the  crystal,  though  the  compara- 
tive ease  with  which  this  hardest  of  stones  may  be  split  by  fol- 
lowing the  natural  cleavage  lines  may  have  been  observed.  Size 
was  rated  so  highly  by  the  Hindoos  in  valuing  a  gem  that  the 
conception  of  increasing  the  worth  of  a  jewel  by  cutting  away 
the  greater  part  of  it  would  not  have  been  tolerated  even  if  it 
had  been  feasible.  When  cutting  to  a  limited  extent  began  to 
be  practised  in  India,  it  was  generally  unsymmetrical  and  unsci- 
entific, as  the  oldest  known  diamonds  bear  witness,  and  there 
was  comparatively  little  advance  for  many  centuries,  as  every 
celebrated  gem  of  Indian  workmanship  plainly  shows.1  But 
even  with  imperfect  cutting  and  crude  polishing  the  inherent 
beauties  of  the  ancient  stones  were  more  or  less  fully  disclosed. 

In  the  mines  of  Panna  there  were  four  noted  divisions  in 
grading.  Clear  and  brilliant  stones  were  in  the  class  Motichul, 
Mansk  was  the  class  name  applied  to  diamonds  of  greenish  tint, 
Panna  to  light  yellow,  and  Bunsput  to  sepia  colored  stones.2 
In  India  at  large  there  was  a  comprehensive  divisional  grading 
corresponding  to  the  main  caste  distinctions,  —  the  "twice-born," 
priests,  warriors,  and  merchants,  and  the  "  once-born,"  tillers  of 
the  land.3  The  Brahmans  were  the  diamonds  of  highest  range, 
clear  and  colorless  crystals  ;  the  Kshatriyas,  clear  crystals,  amber 
tinted  or  of  the  color  of  honey  ;  Vaisyas,  the  cream  colored  ;  and 
the  servile  Sudras,  the  grayish  white  stones.  Grades  in  rank 
were  more  minutely  marked  in  the  rubies  of  the  famous  Badak- 
shan  mines  in  Persia,  where  the  common  people  believed  that 
the  precious  stones  were  deposited  in  the  "  rag-i-lal  "  or  parent 
vein  in  successive  layers.  The  outside  layer  contained  the  small 

1  "A  Treatise  on  Diamonds  and  Pearls,"  David  Jeffries,  London,   1751. 

2  "  Precious  Stones  and  Gems,"  Streeter. 

3  "Annals  of  India,"  J.  Talboys  Wheeler,  Calcutta,  1881. 


THE   ANCIENT   ADAMAS  21 

and  imperfect  stones  styled  piadehs,  foot  soldiers ;  the  next,  a 
better  class  of  stones  called  sawars,  horse  soldiers;  and  so  on 
through  layers  of  amirs,  bakshis,  and  vazirs  until  a  single  stone 
was  reached,  transcending  all  in  size  and  beauty,  which  the  min- 
ers polished  dutifully,  and  took  in  tribute  to  their  sovereign.1 

With  the  expansion  of  Greek  commerce  and  the  entry  of 
Greek  mercenaries  into  the  employ  of  satraps  in  Asia  Minor 
(about  500  B.C.),  the  riches  of  the  Orient  were  made  known,  and 
precious  stones  began  to  pass  into  Europe.  Herodotus,  484  B.C., 
was  first  of  the  early  Greek  writers  2  to  mark  particularly  the  dis- 
plays of  precious  stones  in  palaces  and  temples — the  signet  rings 
of  Darius,  the  magnificent  emerald  in  the  ring  of  Polycrates,  and 
the  marvellous  show  of  the  emerald  column  in  the  temple  of 
Hercules  in  Tyre,  gleaming  like  a  pillar  of  green  fire  at  night. 
This  fiery  column  has  a  certain  likeness  to  the  traditional  stone 
as  big  as  an  ostrich  egg,  to  which  homage  was  paid  as  the  "  God- 
dess of  Emeralds"  by  the  people  of  the  Manca  Valley  in  Peru. 
Sceptics  would  clip  the  marvel  of  both  by  substitution  of  beryl, 
or  aquamarine,  or  colored  glass ;  but  this  trimming  of  legend 
does  not  question  the  extraction  of  true  emeralds  from  mines  in 
Upper  Egypt,  or  the  superb  yield  of  the  deposits  in  Peru  and 
New  Grenada.8 

The  conquests  of  Alexander  the  Great  (334-323  B.C.)  made 
the  Greeks  familiar  with  the  precious  stones  of  India  as  well  as 
of  Western  and  Central  Asia.  His  successors  revelled  in  pro- 
fuse displays  of  jewelled  rings  and  bracelets,  and  wine  cups  and 
candelabra,  in  luxurious  banquets.  Pliny  tells  a  glowing  tale  of 
a  statue  of  Arsinoe,  wife  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  (283  B.C.), 
four  cubits  in  height,  made  of  topazon.4  The  true  topaz  was 
undoubtedly  known  to  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  is  still  obtained 
at  Risk  Allah  near  the  old  emerald  mines  of  Jebel  Zabara ;  but 
the  Oriental  topaz  is  presumed  to  have  been  the  yellow  sapphire  ; 

1  "Oriental  Accounts  of  Precious  Minerals,"  Journal  of  Asiatic  Society  of 
Bengal,  August,  1832.  2  Rawlinson's  "Herodotus." 

3  Brun's  "Travels."  Rawlinson's  "Herodotus,"  II.  44.  Prescott's  "Con- 
quest of  Mexico."  4  "Historia  Naturalis,"  XXXVII,  32. 


22        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

and  the  Greek  topazios,  the  yellowish  green  chrysolite  or  the 
peridot,  of  deeper  green  tint.  The  word  is  derived  from  T07ra£a, 
"  to  seek,"  because  the  traditional  source  was  an  island  in  the 
Red  Sea,  often  difficult  to  reach  through  its  envelope  of  fog.1 
The  loose  use  of  the  term  by  Pliny  and  other  old  writers  makes 
it  impracticable  to  mark  with  any  certainty  from  what  greenish 
hued  stone  Arsinoe's  statue  was  cut.  Still,  in  spite  of  current 
exaggeration  and  confusion  of  distinctions,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
of  the  rising  production  and  circulation  of  the  precious  stones. 

With  the  spread  of  the  Roman  Empire  prodigality  in  dis- 
plays ran  riot.  After  Pompey's  victory  over  Mithradates, 
(B.C.  66)  precious  stones  and  pearls  poured  into  Rome  and  the 
demand  of  vanity  rose  to  a  passion.2  Pliny  writes  :  "  We  drink 
out  of  a  mass  of  gems  crusting  our  wine  bowls,  and  our  drinking 
cups  are  emeralds."  To  heighten  the  wonder  he  tells  in  his  gos- 
siping way  how  emeralds  were  set  as  the  eyes  of  a  lion  sculptured 
in  marble  on  the  tomb  of  King  Hermias  in  the  island  of  Cyprus. 
So  great  was  the  size  and  so  piercing  the  light  of  these  emerald 
eyes  that  the  tunny  fish  in  the  surrounding  sea  were  frightened 
away  until  the  fishermen  of  Cyprus  put  common  stones  in  place  of 
the  dazzling  gems.  Later  scepticism  would  make  these  emerald 
eyes  of  malachite,  for  copper  ores  were  of  common  occurrence  in 
Cyprus8  and  the  glory  of  the  emerald  was  scattered  by  loose  usage 
over  green  fluor  spar,  jasper,  aquamarine,  malachite,  and  perhaps 
even  green  glass.  There  is  also  a  shaking  of  the  marvel  of  the  cups, 
holding  a  pint,  that  were  made  out  of  solid  carbuncles  ;  for  these 
are  supposed  to  be  cuttings  from  the  common  garnets  of  the  Bar- 
bary  coast,  flowing  out  from  Carthage  in  such  profusion  that  the 
carbuncle  was  called  "  the  Carthaginian  stone."  4 

Beryl  was   largely  used  in   the  ornamentation  of  cups  and 

1  Diodorus  Siculus,  Lib.  Ill,  c.  38.  Jameson's  "  Mineralogy,"  p.  48. 
Kidd's  "  Mineralogy,"  I,  121.  2  <<  Historia  Naturalis,"  XXXVII,  6-7. 

'  Cleaveland's  "Mineralogy,"  p.  565.  Theophrastus,  "  De  Lapid.," 
c.  49. 

4  "The  Story  of  Carthage,"  p.  121,  Alfred  J.  Church,  M.A.  "Story  of 
the  Nations." 


THE   ANCIENT   ADAMAS  23 

for  cameos ; l  and  carnelian  was  particularly  prized  as  a  base  for 
the  engraving  of  seals  or  cameos,  sometimes  elaborately  pictorial. 
The  great  scarab  in  the  Prussian  cabinet,  representing  the  five 
heroes  of  Thebes,  is  a  recognized  masterpiece  of  old  Etruscan 
art,  and  a  deep-cut  carnelian  once  belonging  to  Michael  Angelo 
portrays  the  birthday  festival  of  Dionysius.2  Amethyst  ranked 
with  carnelian  as  a  favorite  stone  with  engravers,  and  it  was  of 
peculiar  traditional  service  in  the  fashioning  of  drinking  cups, 
from  its  supposed  checking  of  drunkenness,  whence  its  Greek 
name,  —  a,  "  not,"  and  fj.tdva),  "  to  intoxicate."  Opals  were 
placed  in  the  first  rank  of  gems,  and  Pliny  tells  of  a  senator, 
Nonius,  who  bore  banishment  and  the  loss  of  all  his  estate 
rather  than  the  sacrifice  of  his  opal  ring  to  the  greed  of  Mark 
Antony.8 

Pearls  were  even  more  highly  valued  and  lavishly  displayed 
than  any  of  the  precious  stones.  Swelling  the  yield  of  the 
Mediterranean  shores  there  flowed  into  Rome  a  profusion  of 
still  finer  pearls  from  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Ceylon,  to  be  set  in 
necklaces,  bracelets,  earrings,  and  clasps  of  all  kinds.  Rich  robes 
were  bespangled  with  jewels,  and  it  is  reported  that  Lollia  Pau- 
lina, the  wife  of  Caligula  (A.D.  37-41),  wore  a  dress  covered  with 
pearls  and  emeralds.  Cleopatra's  famous  pearls  were  said  to 
have  cost  her  _£8o,ooo.  Julius  Caesar  (B.C.  102-44)  gave  Servilia, 
Cato's  sister,  a  pearl  valued  at  over  ^50,000,  and  Nero  dropped 
handfuls  of  pearls  in  the  laps  of  his  mistresses  (A.D.  54-68). 

From  personal  adornments,  the  decoration  of  arms  and  trap- 
pings, and  the  embellishing  of  banquets,  the  use  of  gems  spread 
to  the  mounting  of  pictures  in  frames  studded  with  precious 
stones,  and  the  ornamentation  of  statuary.  Nero  viewed  the 
combats  of  gladiators  in  a  mirror  of  jewels,4  and  Constantine 

1  "  Historia  Naturalis,"  XXXVII,  20. 

2  "A  Treatise  on  Gems,"  Feuchtwanger. 

3  »  Historia  Naturalis,"  XXXVII,  21. 

4  Ibid.  XXXVII,  1 6.      Beckmann   thinks  the   mirror   of  Smaragdus  in  which 
Nero   gazed  may  have  been  green  obsidian,   green   jasper,    or   even   green   glass. 
"History  of  Inventions,"  III,  177. 


24        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

challenged  the  splendor  of  Oriental  monarchs  by  his  entry  into 
Rome  in  a  chariot  of  gold  sparkling  with  precious  stones 
(A.O.  310-337). 

Amid  all  this  profusion,  in  which  millions  of  sesterces  were 
lavished,  the  diamond  is  noted  only  by  rare  allusions.  This  is 
probably  accounted  for  by  the  check  in  the  advance  of  lapidary 
art  on  reaching  a  stone  of  such  indomitable  hardness.  Even 
the  diamonds  set  in  the  clasp  of  the  regal  mantle  of  Charlemagne, 
after  the  opening  of  the  ninth  century,  show  only  a  partial  polish- 
ing of  the  natural  planes  of  the  crystals.  There  was  no  scientific 
cutting  of  facets  to  heighten  the  brilliancy  of  the  stone  until  the 
fifteenth  century.  When  artificial  shaping  was  attempted  before 
that  time,  it  did  not  go  beyond  the  production  of  a  flat  top  or 
table,  or  a  convex  surface,  with  a  truncated  pyramid  as  a  base. 
Even  when  a  large  number  of  facets  were  cut,  as  was  sometimes 
done  by  East  Indian  lapidaries,  there  was  no  scientific  propor- 
tioning, as  was  signally  shown  in  the  instance  of  the  remarkable 
stone  known  as  the  "  Beau  Sancy,"  which  came  into  the  posses- 
sion of  Charles  the  Bold,  Duke  of  Burgundy.  It  was  the  recut- 
ting  of  this  stone  in  1465,  by  the  true  artist  Louis  de  Berquem 
of  Bruges,  that  marks  the  rising  of  the  modern  art  that  has 
enhanced  so  immensely  the  resplendence  and  beauty  of  the 
diamond,  and  established  its  place  securely  as  the  chief  among 
gems  that  are  prized  for  adornment. 

Then  begins  the  entry  of  the  famous  diamonds  passing  over 
the  face  of  Europe  with  meteoric  trains  of  adventure.  The 
Beau  Sancy  glitters  for  a  moment  in  the  splendid  array  led  by 
Charles  the  Bold  against  the  Swiss  peasants.  On  the  bloody 
field  of  Granson  (3d  March,  A.D.  1476)  where  the  best  knights 
of  Burgundy  were  killed  or  put  to  flight  by  the  mountaineers, 
the  jewel  that  might  ransom  a  king  is  trampled  under  foot  in 
the  rout.  A  Swiss  soldier  picks  it  up.  It  is  no  more  in  his 
eye  than  a  bit  of  glass  which  he  is  well  pleased  to  sell  for  a  florin 
to  a  priest.  Philip  de  Commines  says  that  the  priest  knew  no 
more  of  its  value  than  the  soldier,  and  thought  he  did  well  to 
make  a  franc  by  selling  the  diamond  to  the  burghers  of  Berne. 


THE   ANCIENT   ADAMAS  25 

There  the  diamond  disappears.  One  current  story  makes  it 
reappear  one  hundred  years  later  in  the  possession  of  the  king 
of  Portugal,  who  pledges  it  with  other  jewels  for  a  loan  from 
Nicholas  Harlai,  Seigneur  de  Sancy,  and  treasurer  of  the  king 
of  France.  M.  de  Sancy  soon  buys  it  outright  for  one  hundred 
thousand  francs  and  loans  it  to  sparkle  for  a  time  on  the  head 
of  his  king,  Henry  III.  (A.D.  1574-1589). 
When  Henry  of  Navarre  comes  to  the  throne 
(1589),  M.  de  Sancy  sends  the  diamond  to 
him  by  a  trusted  servant.  Thieves  waylay 
and  kill  the  messenger,  but  the  precious  stone 
is  seemingly  not  in  his  keeping.  So  his  body 
is  thrown  into  a  grave  hastily  made  by  his 
murderers.  When  the  place  of  burial  is  later 
searched  out  by  direction  of  M.  de  Sancy,  the  lost  diamond  is 
found  in  the  dead  man's  stomach. 

Undimmed  in  this  ghastly  adventure,  it  rises  from  the  grave 
to  shine  on  the  breast  of  Elizabeth  of  England  (A.D.  1558-1603). 
From  the  last  of  the  Tudors  it  passes  to  the  Stuarts,  and  one  of 
the  few  treasures  that  James  the  Second  carries  off  in  his  flight 
from  his  throne  (A.D.  1688)  is  the  brilliant  Sancy.  Louis  XIV. 
buys  the  gem  from  the  king  in  exile  (A.D.  1695),  and  it  is  held 
as  one  of  the  most  precious  of  the  crown  jewels  until  the  Revo- 
lution. In  1792  robbers  break  open  the  treasure  chamber  and 
bear  it  off"  with  other  plunder.  Again  it  is  beyond  tracing  for 
years,  till  it  reappears  in  the  hands  of  a  noble  Russian  family, 
the  Demidoffs,  from  whom  it  passes  to  London  merchants,  and 
finally  to  the  Maharajah  of  Puttiala.  It  may  be  that  the  adven- 
tures of  two  diamonds  are  fused  in  this  tale,  but  it  is  none  the 
less  an  outline  of  truth  with  the  marvel  of  romance.1 

Even  Aladdin's  wonderful  palace,  reared  in  a  night  by  the 
hands  of  obedient  genii,  scarcely  outstripped  the  glittering  show 
of  the  court  of  the  Great  Moguls,  enthroned  in  Delhi  (A.D.  1526) 
by  the  arms  of  the  Sultan  Baber  and  his  grandson  Akbar,  of  the 

1  "  A  Treatise  on  Gems,"  Feuchtwanger.  "  Great  Diamonds  of  the  World," 
Streeter. 


26        THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

line  of  Timour  the  Tartar.  Here  embassies  passed  through  the 
main  gate  of  the  palace  along  a  magnificent  avenue  to  the  grand 
central  square.  Thousands  of  bodyguards  in  splendid  dress  lined 
the  way,  and  behind  the  ranks  richly  caparisoned  elephants 
were  massed,  waving  flags  of  satin  and  silver.  Dark  eyes  peered 
through  the  crimson  hangings  of  the  howdahs  and  the  gilded 
lattices  of  the  zenana  cloisters  bordering  the  square.  Beyond 
the  cloisters  gardens  outspread,  with  beds  of  lovely  flowers  and 
sheltering  arbors  and  fountains  splashing  in  sculptured  basins. 

The  entrance  to  the  durbar  or  audience  hall  was  through  a 
pavilion  hung  with  tapestries  of  purple  and  gold  to  a  stately 
marble  chamber,  whose  pillars  and  walls  gleamed  with  rainbow 
hues.  Under  a  canopy  of  flowered  tissue  on  silver  poles  was  set 
the  imperial  throne,  the  matchless  triumph  of  Indian  art.  There 
strutted  two  peacocks  fashioned  deftly  of  jewels  and  gold  to 
depict  every  plume  and  hue  of  the  living  creature.  The  out- 
spread tail  seemed  to  flutter  in  mimicry  of  life  with  the  sheen  of 
sapphires  and  emeralds.  The  body  was  of  enamelled  gold  and 
the  eyes  two  radiant  diamonds.  Peacocks  were  emblems  of  the 
sun  and  of  the  descent  of  the  Great  Moguls  from  the  sun  through 
Chenghiz  Khan.  Ranged  beside  these  splendid  figures  were 
stands  bearing  masses  of  unfading  flowers,  for  every  stem  and 
leaf  and  petal  was  counterfeited  in  precious  stones  and  metals. 

When  the  Great  Mogul  took  his  seat  on  his  throne  of  solid 
gold  studded  with  jewels,  all  bent  low  before  his  imperial 
majesty  attired  in  cloth  of  gold  blazing  with  precious  stones 
in  armlets  and  necklaces  and  crusted  embroidery.  Over  the 
entrance  to  the  hall  was  engraven  in  letters  of  gold:  "If  there 
be  an  elysium  on  earth,  it  is  this."  Here  was  at  least  a  splendor 
of  luxury  beyond  all  rivalry.  Never  was  shown,  in  vain  Babylon, 
adventurous  Tyre,  or  imperial  Rome,  any  display  as  dazzling  as 
the  jewels  of  Delhi.1 

'"The  Turks  in  India,"  Henry  George  Keene,  London,  1879.  "His- 
tory of  British  India,"  Sir  W.  W.  Hunter.  Hunter's  "Indian  Empire." 
"Tales  from  Indian  History,"  J.  Talboys  Wheeler.  "Travels  in  the  East," 
Vol.  Ill,  Forbes. 


THE   ANCIENT   ADAMAS  27 

Here  the  Koh-i-nur,  Mountain  of  Light,  sparkled,  a  price- 
less trophy.  In  the  great  battle  of  Pariput  (April  2ist,  1526), 
when  the  last  emperor  of  the  Afghan-Lodi  dynasty,  Ibrahim,  was 
beaten  by  Baber,  the  Rajah  of  Gwalior  was  "  sent  to  hell,"  as 
Baber  wrote  grimly,  and  his  most  precious  jewel  —  valued  "at 
half  the  daily  expense  of  the  whole  world" — came  in  tribute  to 
Humaiun,  the  great  sultan's  favorite  son.1  Here,  too,  were  the 
Koh-i-tur,  Mountain  of  Sinai,  and  the  Darya-i-nur,  Sea  of  Light, 
and  the  Taj-e-mah,  Crown  of  the  Moon,  and  that  prodigy  of 
diamonds,  the  Great  Mogul,  presented  to  Shah  Jehan  by  the 
Emir  Jemla.2 

These  precious  stones  were  coveted  and  hoarded  with  insane 
passion  when  every  other  lure  in  the  boasted  elysium  was  as 
Dead  Sea  fruit  to  the  jaded  senses. 
Shah  Jehan,  dethroned  and  impris- 
oned at  Agra,  sank  to  dotage,  clasp- 
ing his  casket  of  jewels,  and  trickling 
diamonds  and  rubies  over  his  head 
and  breast.  When  his  son,  Aurung- 
zeb,  sent  a  messenger  to  borrow  some 
of  this  hoard,  the  resentful  old  man 
threatened  to  break  up  the  gems  in 

.  i      i     11     i   i        i       c     \  i  The  Koh-i-nflr.     (Present  Cutting.) 

a  mortar.    Shah  Kokh,  the  feeble  son 

of  Nadir  Shah,  who  broke  the  peacock  throne  of  the  Moguls, 
was  blinded  by  the  Aga  Mohammed  in  the  vain  effort  to  extort 
the  Koh-i-nur.  Then  his  head  was  shaved  and  circled  with  a 
ring  of  paste  to  hold  boiling  oil,  but  even  this  intensity  of  torture 
only  forced  the  surrender  of  a  ruby  plucked  from  the  crown  of 
Aurungzeb.  Shah  Zaman,  blinded  by  his  brother  Shuja,  hid 
the  Koh-i-nur  defiantly  for  years  in  the  plaster  of  his  prison 
cell ;  and  Shuja,  blinded  by  a  third  brother,  Mahmud,  yielded 
up  the  priceless  stone  to  Runjeet  Singh,  only  to  save  his  family 
from  agonizing  death. 

In  the  sack  of  Delhi  by  Nadir  Shah  in  1739,  the  wonderful 

1  Memoirs  of  Sultan  Baber. 

2  "Voyages  en  Turquie,  en  Perse  et  aux  Indes,"  Tavernier,  Paris,  1676. 


28        THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

store  of  jewels  in  the  court  of  the  Mogul  emperors  was  borne  away 
by  the  plunderers.  It  is  supposed  that  the  Great  Mogul  was 
broken  at  that  time,  and  other  famous  diamonds  were  beyond 
tracing  for  years.  The  great  gems  were  still  more  widely  scat- 
tered upon  the  assassination  of  Nadir  Shah,  and  some  of  the  finest 
of  the  crown  jewels  of  Europe  have  probably  come  from  the 
hoards  of  Delhi.  The  Darya-i-nur  and  Taj-e-mah  were  set  in  a 
pair  of  bracelets  which  Sir  John  Malcolm  saw  at  the  court  of 
Persia,1  and  they  are  still  the  most  precious  of  the  jewels  of  the 
Shah.  Some  have  seen  in  the  Orloff  or  Sceptre  diamond  of  the 
Czar,  the  reappearance  of  the  Great  Mogul,  but  Streeter  thinks 
that  the  Great  Mogul  has  never  come  to  light  since  the  loot  of 
the  treasures  of  Nadir  Shah  by  the  Abdalli-Afghans. 

When  the  Koh-i-nur  came  into  the  hands  of  Runjeet  Singh, 
he  had  the  stone  set  in  a  bracelet  which  he  wore  proudly  on 
every  parade  day.  On  his  death-bed  he  sought  to  propitiate 
the  gods  by  presenting  this,  the  chief  of  his  jewels,  to  the  shrine 
of  Jaga-nath  (Juggernaut),  but  his  hand  was  too  weak  to  sign  the 
warrant  of  delivery.  So  the  gem  descended  to  the  young  rajah 

Dhulip-Singh,  and  was  held  until  the 
Indian  mutiny  and  the  seizure  of  the 
Punjaub  by  the  English  forces.  Then 
the  state  property  of  the  province  was 
confiscated  to  pay  debts  due  to  the  East 
India  Company,  but  the  Koh-i-nur  was 
reserved  for  the  English  crown,  and  on 
June  jd,  1850,  this  jewel,  from  earliest 
The  Orioff.  tradition  the  emblem  of  conquest,  was 

placed  in  the  hands  of  Queen  Victoria  by  the  messengers  of 
Lord  Dalhousie. 

Every  precious  stone  of  uncommon  size  has  some  adventure 
to  tell,  though  its  tale  may  not  be  a  drama  of  as  many  acts  as  the 
Koh-i-nur' s  career.  What  a  strange  story  might  be  drawn  from 
the  Orloff  of  the  sights  in  the  temple  of  Mysore,  when  it  was 
the  eye  of  the  Hindoo  god,  Sri-Ranga.2  There  was  no  other 
1  "Sketches  of  Persia,"  Sir  John  Malcolm,  1827.  2  Ibid. 


THE    ANCIENT   ADAMAS  29 

witness  of  the  sacrilege  of  the  French  grenadier,  masquerading  as 
a  devotee  on  the  black  and  stormy  night  when  he  plucked  out 
the  precious  stone  eye  and  ran  off  through  the  British  army  lines 
to  Madras.  Here  the  captain  of  an  English  ship  gave  him 
.£2,000  for  his  prize,  but  it  cost  Prince  Orloff  more  than  fifty 
times  this  sum  when  he  bought  it  in  Amsterdam  to  win  back  the 
favor  of  the  Empress  Catherine. 

The  Regent  lies  in  state,  most  lustrous  and  precious  of  the 
gems  of  the  old  French  crown.  The  slave  who  found  it  buried 
in  the  bank  of  the  Kistna  River,  A.D. 
1701,  cut  his  leg  deeply  to  pouch 
the  stone  in  his  flesh,  and  wrapped  the 
wound  in  a  thick  bandage.  At  the 
first  opening  he  ran  away  to  the  sea- 
coast  and  found  refuge  on  an  English 
merchant  ship.  But  the  lure  of  the 
big  diamond  was  too  tempting  to 
the  captain.  When  his  ship  was  in  the 
open  sea,  he  flung  the  slave  overboard 

to  drown,  and  took  the  stolen  diamond  to  sell  to  an  Indian 
merchant,  from  whom  it  passed  to  the  governor  of  Fort  St. 
George,  Thomas  Pitt,  grandfather  of  the  great  Earl  of  Chatham. 

It  was  one  of  the  largest  of  all  known  diamonds,  the  rough 
stone  weighing  410  carats,  and  Thomas  Pitt  would  not  suffer  it 
to  be  out  of  his  sight  or  touch  day  or  night,  though  he  was 
racked  by  the  fear  of  thieves  and  murderers.  While  the  alarm- 
ful  gem  was  in  his  keeping,  it  is  said  that  he  never  slept  twice 
under  the  same  roof,  and  moved  from  place  to  place  in  disguise, 
at  a  moment's  caprice,  to  cover  his  tracks.  Fortunately  for  his 
peace  of  mind,  as  well  as  his  purse,  he  was  able  to  sell  his  prize 
for  ^£135,000  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Regent  of  France  in  the 
minority  of  Louis  XV.  (A.D.  1715-1723).  So  the  splendid  stone 
made  the  fortune  of  the  house  of  Pitt,  and  came  to  glitter  in  the 
most  prodigal  and  luxurious  court  of  Europe.  It  was  held  by 
the  Bourbons  until  the  French  Revolution,  and  in  1792  it  was 
stolen  by  the  robbers  who  carried  off  the  Sancy  and  thrown  into 


30        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

a  ditch  in  the  Champs  Elysees.    Here  it  was  picked  up  with  other 
plunder  which  the  thieves  did  not  dare  to  keep  or  offer  for  sale. 

Then  it  was  uplifted  again  to  the  French 
crown  and  has  held  its  place  through 
revolutions  that  have  unmade  kings  and 
emperors. 

So  it  might  be  told  how  "  The  Flor- 
entine "  wandered  from  India  through 
Tuscany  to  the  Austrian  crown,  —  how 
the  "  Piggott  "  saw  Clive's  conquests 
(A.D.  1751-1767)  and  travelled  to  Eng- 
land with  the  governor  of  Madras  and 

was  crushed  to  powder  by  the  dying  Ali  Pasha,  —  how  the 
"  Star  of  the  South  "  made  its  way  from 
the  sands  of  Brazil  to  glitter  on  the 
breast  of  the  fantastic  Gaikwak  of  Baroda 
while  he  killed  disagreeable  people  with 
diamond  dust,  —  and  how  banished  con- 
victs won  their  pardon  from  the  Portu- 
guese crown  by  the  discovery'  of  the 
Braganza,  the  largest  diamond,  if  genu- 
ine, that  the  world  ever  saw.1  ThePiggott. 

No  one  can  say  of  a  true  diamond 
story,  "  it  is  closed  " ;  for  diamonds 
outlast  dynasties,  and  their  wander- 
ings may  be  on  the  verge  of  renewal 
when  they  seem  to  be  ended.  "  A 
jewel  may  rest  on  an  English  lady's 
arm  that  saw  Alaric  sack  Rome,  and 
beheld  before  —  what  not  ?  The 

The  Star  of  the  South. 

'"Great  Diamonds  of  the  World,"  Streeter.  "  Diamonds,"  W.  Pole, 
London  Archzological  Trans. ,  London,  1861.  "Diamonds  and  Precious  Stones," 
H.  Emanuel,  London,  1865.  "Outlines  of  Mineralogy,"  J.  Kidd,  Oxford. 
"Traite  Complet  des  Pierres  precieuses,"  Charles  Barbot,  Paris,  1838.  "The 
People  of  India,"  J.  Forbes  Watson  and  J.  W.  Kaye,  Editors.  "  Gemmarum  et 
Lapidum  Historia,"  etc.,  Boetius,  1647. 


THE   ANCIENT   ADAM  AS  31 

treasures  of  the  palaces  of  the  Pharaohs  and  of  Darius,  or  the 
camp  of  the  Ptolemies,  come  into  Europe  on  the  neck  of  a 
vulgar  pro-consul's  wife  to  glitter  at  every  gladiator's  butchery 
at  the  amphitheatre ;  then  pass  in  a  Gothic  ox-wagon  to  an  Arab 
seraglio  at  Seville ;  and  so  back  to  its  native  India,  to  figure  in 
the  peacock  throne  of  the  Great  Mogul;  to  be  bought  by  an 
Armenian  for  a  few  rupees  from  an  English  soldier,  and  so,  at 
last,  come  hither." 

The  illustrations  of  the  historic  diamonds  shown  in  this  chapter  have  been 
made  from  photographs  of  facsimiles  of  the  stones,  and  are  the  exact  sizes  of  the 
originals. 


CHAPTER    II 


IN    TRADITIONAL    OPHIR    LAND 


CHILD  picking  a  shining  pebble  for  a  play- 
thing from  the  gravel  edging  a  river  —  was  this 
sport  of  blind  chance  the  revelation  of  the  mar- 
vellous diamond  fields  of  Africa?  In  narrow 
fact,  yes  ;  but  in  a  wider,  truer  range  of  view, 
this  discovery  was  the  crown  that  sooner  or 
later  must  reward  the  search  of  daring  adventurers  and  the  push 
of  stubborn  pioneers  into  the  dark  heart  of  the  continent. 

There  was  no  chance  in  the  strain  of  pluck  that  braved 
strange  perils  to  reach  traditional  Ophir  and  the  pits  of  King 
Solomon's  mines,  that  wandered  far  in  quest  of  the  golden  cities 
of  Monomotapa,  that  tore  the  wilderness  from  the  clutch  of  the 
lion  and  vulture,  and  beat  back  the  frantic  impis  of  Tchaka, 
Dingaan,  and  Umsilikazi.  The  ardor  and  the  toil  and  the 
courage  and  the  blood  of  ten  generations  of  explorers  were 
spent  before  it  was  possible  for  a  little  child  to  play  pitch  and 
toss  with  the  pebbles  of  the  Orange  River  and  clasp  a  rough 
diamond  in  his  heedless  hand. 

Two  dominant  motives  were  fused  with  the  high-spirited  zeal 
for  exploration  that  so  signally  stamped  the  fifteenth  century,  — 
the  opening  of  an  all-sea  route  to  the  Indies,  and  the  grasp  of 
the  riches  of  lands  behind  the  veil.  In  the  unknown  there  is 
space  for  any  vault  of  fancy,  and  in  that  romantic  age  her  soaring 
wings  were  rarely  clipped.  One  may  be  moved  to  smile  at  the 
fantastic  visions  of  the  men  who  found  the  southern  waterway 
to  the  Indies,  and  added  a  new  world  to  the  old ;  but  there  will 
be  no  sneer  in  the  smile  of  any  one  who  can  measure  his  own 
debt  to  experience,  and  put  himself  back  five  centuries  to  stand 

32 


:  _-SlT  < 

or 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND  33 

on  the  deck  with   Cam,  Bias,  and   Da  Gama,  or  the  still  more 
greatly  daring  Columbus. 


Visscher's  Map  of  Africa,  1662.     (From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum.) 

But  who  can  to-day  feel  the  hopes  and  fears  that  shook 
those  strong  hearts  ?  Who  can  lay  the  course  for  their  clumsy 
caravels  over  the  unknown  stretches  of  ocean  ?  Who  can  sail 
on  with  them  day  after  day  and  night  after  night  without  a  chart 


34 


THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


or  buoy  or  beacon  or  surf-rocked  bell  ?  Who  can  start  from 
fitful  sleep  to  pierce  the  night  with  straining  eyes  or  watch  for 
the  glimmer  of  the  dawn  on  sea-girt  horizons  ?  Who  can  recall 
their  racking  fears  or  the  dazzling  images  ever  forming  and  dis- 


Africa,  from  an  early  Dutch  Map. 


solving  in  the  alembic  of  their  fancy  ?  With  every  daybreak 
the  isles  of  Atlantis  might  spring  into  view,  or  gardens  fairer 
than  the  golden  Hesperides,  or  monsters  more  horrific  than 
dragons,  guarding  hoards  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice,  or,  per- 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND  35 

chance,  even  the  realms  of  some  potentate  accustomed  to  make 
footstools  of  princes  with  stiffer  necks  than  haughty  Xerxes  or 
the  terrible  Tamburlane. 

Amid  the  drift  of  such  cloudy  conceits  there  was  one  more 
clearly  shaped  and  persistent  than  the  rest.  Somewhere  below 
the  equator,  in  the  unknown  expanse  of  Africa,  tradition  placed 
the  home  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  King  Solomon's  mines,  and  the 
marvels  of  Ophir.  Every  adventurer  skirting  the  South  African 
coast  hoped  to  touch  with  certainty  the  shore  of  this  delectable 
country.  The  alluring  recital  in  Kings  and  Chronicles  glittered 
before  his  eyes.1  In  fancy  he  saw  the  gathering  of  the  ships  in 
"  Ezion-Geber,  which  is  beside  Eloth  on  the  shore  of  the  Red 
Sea,"  and  how  this  fleet  came  to  Ophir  and  fetched  from  thence 
gold,  four  hundred  and  twenty  talents,  and  brought  it  to  King 
Solomon.  He  saw,  too,  the  coming  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba  to 
the  king  to  prove  him  with  hard  questions,  and  the  great  train 
that  followed  her  with  camels  that  bare  spices  and  very  much 
gold  and  precious  stones.  Then  it  was  told  him  how  the  queen 
was  overcome  by  Solomon's  wisdom  and  grandeur  until  "  there 
was  no  more  spirit  in  her,"  and  she  gave  the  king  one  hundred 
and  twenty  talents  of  gold,  and  of  spices  very  great  store,  and 
precious  stones.  Following  this  tribute  came  the  regular  flow, 
from  Ophir  to  Judea,  of  gold  and  gems  and  almug  trees  in  the 
transports  of  Tyre.  With  such  a  fountain  of  supply,  it  was 
easy  to  credit  the  wonderful  tale  of  the  targets  and  shields  of 
beaten  gold,  of  the  throne  of  ivory  overlaid  with  gold,  and  of  all 
the  other  displays  of  Solomon's  splendor.  If  the  king's  gold 
made  silver  to  be  in  Jerusalem  as  stones  in  the  eyes  of  the 
chronicler,  it  is  not  surprising  that  this  vision  came  down 
undimmed  to  the  days  of  Da  Gama. 

But  how  to  find  the  source  of  this  flow  was  the  puzzle  that 
faced  the  explorer.  Unfortunately  the  old  chroniclers  had 
omitted  to  give  any  landmarks  of  King  Solomon's  mines.  Sur- 
mise strayed  down  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa,  and  the  close 
commercial  connection  between  southwestern  Arabia  and  the 
1 1  Kings  ix.,  x  ;  z  Chronicles  viii.,  ix. 


36        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Outline  Copy  of  the  Catalan 
(In  the  original  the  shore  line  has  almost  illegible  names, 


equatorial  coast  region  of  East  Africa  was  unquestionable. 
Herodotus  declares  that  East  Africa  at  its  furthest  known  limits 
supplied  gold  in  great  plenty  as  well  as  huge  elephants  and 
ebony.  The  Alexandrian  geographers  mark  rudely  the  East 
African  coast  line  to  Zanzibar,  and  attest  the  relations  between 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND 


37 


Mappermonde,  1375. 

which,  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  have  been  omitted  here.) 

this  coast  and  Arabia  Felix.  Eratosthenes  observes  that  naviga- 
tion extends  down  East  Africa  beyond  Bab-el-Mandeb,  "  along 
the  myrrh  country,  south  and  east  as  far  as  the  Cinnamon  coun- 
try, about  five  thousand  stadia."  Ptolemy,  in  the  second  cen- 
1  Strabo,  XVI,  Chap.  IV,  4. 


38         THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

tury  A.D.,  describes  quite  accurately  the  east  coast  of  Africa  as 
far  as  Zanzibar  and  Ras  Mamba  Mku.  His  information  was 
chiefly  derived  from  Arabian  merchants.  But,  as  Schlechter  has 
closely  pointed  out  in  his  admirable  monograph,1  there  is  no 
trace  or  hint  anywhere  during  the  Greek  and  Roman  periods  of 
antiquity  of  any  colony  or  emporium  south  of  the  Zanzibar 


Outline  Copy  of  the  Portolano  Laurenziano,  1351. 

coast,  and  not  long  after  the  time  of  Herodotus  the  gold  im- 
ports of  Arabia  had  shrunk,  to  inconsiderable  importance.  With 
the  decline  of  the  Himyaritic  Kingdom  in  Arabia,  soon  after  the 
second  century  of  our  era,  there  was  a  falling  off  of  commercial 
enterprise  and  intercourse  with  Africa,  so  marked  that  even  the 

1  "  Periplus  of  the   Erythraean  Sea,"   Henry  Schlechter,  The  Geographical 
Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  July,  1893. 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND 


39 


notable  map  of  the  Arabian  Edrisi,  in  1154  A.D.,  shows  how 
slight  and  vague  was  the  advance  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Dark 
Continent  from  the  days  of  the  Alexandrian  geographers.  Still 
this  old  chart  gives  some  substantial  proof  of  the  communica- 
tion of  Arabian  traders  with  the  natives  on  the  East  African 
coast.  But  on  this  map  the  African  coast  appears  to  curve 


Africa  de  Mappermonde,  Juan  de  la  Cosa,  1500.  (This  map  was  made  only  fourteen  years  after 
the  discovery  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  is  one  of  the  earliest  known  maps  giving  the 
entire  contour  of  Africa  with  approximate  accuracy.) 

east  continuously  from  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  Edrisi 
was  plainly  ignorant  of  the  abrupt  trend  to  the  south  from  Cape 
Guar-da-fui.  Yet  he  shows  rudely  the  islands  lying  off  the  east 
coast  of  Africa,  and,  south  of  Sokotra,  traces  the  African  main- 
land in  three  divisions,  Zendj  (Zanzibar),  Sofala,  and  Vakvak. 

With  all  its  imperfections  this  Arabian  map  was  in  advance 
of  any  European  portrayal  of  South  Africa.  It  was  the  prevail- 
ing belief  in  the  Middle  Ages,  "  bequeathed  from  antiquity,"  as 


40        THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Justin  Winsor  observes,  that  "  owing  to  the  impassable  heats  of 
the  torrid  zone,  it  could  not  be  discovered  whether  this  region 
were  inhabited  or  whether  land  existed  there."  Map  makers 
plainly  made  the  bounds  of  land  and  water  beyond  the  equator 
from  sheer  surmise,  and  the  confession  was  commonly  frank  that 
the  land  was  terra  incognita  and  the  ocean  a  sea  of  darkness. 
"  Most  famous  of  all  these  early  maps"  (of  the  Atlantic  Ocean), 


Dutch  Ship  of  the  XVIIIth  Century. 

says  Winsor,1  "  was  the  Catalan  Mappermonde  of  1375."  It  was 
probably  the  one  best  known  by  the  sailors  sent  out  by  Prince 
Henry  of  Portugal,  in  the  year  1413,  to  follow  down  the  Atlan- 
tic shore  line  of  Africa.  On  this  map,  all  known  Africa  is 
bounded  on  the  south  by  a  line  drawn  eastward  from  Finisterra, 
off  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Del  Oro,  about  23°  north  of  the 
equator,  nearly  across  the  continent  to  the  Egyptian  Nile.  In 
the  Portolano  Laurenziano  of  1351,  the  outline  of  Africa  is  given 

1  "  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,"  Vol.  I,  p.  55,  Justin  Winsor. 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND 


Dutch  Ships  of  the  XVI  Ith  Century. 

an  approach  to  reality  that  is  highly  remarkable,  but  it  is  clearly 
a  happy  stretch  of  guesswork.1 

All  of  the  region  south  of  Cape  Non  was  practically  un- 
known to  the  adventurers  of  the  fifteenth  century.2  Their  ears 
were  filled  with  doleful  tales  of  the  calms  and  storms,  the 


Dutch  Ships  of  the  XVIIth  Century. 

1  "  Life  of  Prince  Henry  of  Portugal,  surnamed  the  Navigator,  and  its  Results," 
R.  H.  Major,   London,  1868. 

2  Chief  of  the  charts  in  the  fifteenth  century  were  those  of  Andrea  Bianco, 
"Atlas,"  1436,  and  "  Carta  Nautica."     Justin  Winsor,  "Narrative  and  Critical 
History  of  America,"  Vol.  I,  p.  55. 


42         THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

mud-banks  and  the  fogs,  of  the  Sea  of  Darkness.      If  by  any 
stretch  of  daring  they  might  cross  the  equatorial  line,  they  were 


Dutch  Ship  of  the  XVI  Ith  Century. 


burdened  with  the  fear  that  they  would  begin  to  slide  down  an 
inclined  plane  with  a  rush  that  would  pitch  them  headlong  into 


Dutch  Ships  of  the  XVI  Ith  Century. 


some  bottomless  abyss.     The  only  assurance  of  a  happier  issue 
was  the  bare  tale  of  old  Herodotus  of  some  nameless  Phoenician 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND 


43 


sailors  who  had  skirted  the  coast  south  from  the  Red  Sea  in  the 
days  of  Pharaoh  Necho  (610-594  B.C.),  and  returned  nearly 
three  years  later  through  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  and  the  Medi- 
terranean. These  sailors  brought  back,  with  their  load  of  ivory, 
feathers,  and  gold,  the  report  that  during  a  considerable  part  of 
this  voyage  they  had  the  sun  on  their  right  hand.  It  is  this 
detail  that  now  chiefly  confirms  the  story,  but  this  was  beyond 
the  credence  of  Herodotus,1  and  it  would  seem  that  this  ancient 
mariner's  tale  was  soon  generally  disbelieved,  for  the  special 


Dutch  Ships  of  the  XVI  Ith  Century. 

searches  made  in  the  Alexandrian  library  by  Eratosthenes  and 
Marinus  of  Tyre  in  the  third  and  second  centuries  B.C.  brought 
to  light  no  other  records  or  traces  of  the  voyage.  So  it  was  not 
with  reliance  on  this  alleged  circumnavigation  that  the  adven- 
turers of  Portugal  groped  painfully  for  seventy  years  along  the 
coast,  until  the  daring  Dias  set  his  stone  crosses  at  Angra 
Pequena  and  Algoa  Bay  and  sighted  the  turning  point  of  the 
path  to  the  Indies  in  the  frowning  Cabo  de  Todos  los  Tor- 
mentos.  King  John  was  quick  to  see  the  promise  in  the  land 
1  "  Herodotus,"  Bk.  4,  42,  Rawlinson. 


44        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

of  Dias  and  change  the  Cape  of  Storms  to  Cabo  de  Boa  Espe- 
ranza,  but  ten  years  passed  before  Vasco  da  Gama  followed 
down  the  trail  and  rounded  the  Cape  in  the  immortal  voyage 
that  reached  the  long-sought  Indies  six  years  after  Columbus 
had  touched  the  island  hem  of  the  new  world.1 


Dutch  Ships  of  the  XVIIIth  Century. 

The  completed  circling  of  Africa  by  European  adventurers 
was  a  no  less  memorable  achievement  of  Da  Gama.  He  touched 
at  Mozambique  on  the  first  of  March,  1498,  and  there  saw  gold, 
in  the  hands  of  Arabs,  that  had  passed  up  the  coast  from  Sofala. 
Nearly  twenty  years  before,  a  Portuguese  courtier,  Pedro  de 
Covilhao,  had  reached  Sofala  in  an  attempt  to  pass  to  India  by 
way  of  Egypt.2 

For  many  years  and  possibly  for  many  centuries  there  had 
been  a  trickle  of  gold  from  Sofala  through  Arab  traders,  and 
Da  Gama  saw  enough  of  it  to  move  his  king  to  lay  his  hands 
upon  it.  In  the  expedition  of  Cabral,  which  followed  in  the 
wake  of  Da  Gama  in  1500,  the  great  captain,  Bartholemeu 

1  "  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,"  C.  Raymond  Beazley. 

2  "The  Portuguese  in  South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal.     "  South  Africa 
from  Arab  Domination  to  British  Rule,"  R.  W.  Murray,  editor,  London,  1891. 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND  45 

Bias,  was  specially  commissioned  to  seek  the  source  of  the 
gold  stream.  Bias  was  drowned  in  the  storm  which  sunk  four 
ships  of  this  fleet,  but  Cabral  took  a  vessel  carrying  gold  from 
Sofala  and  sailed  to  Kilwa,  where  the  Arab  Ibrahim  and  his 
forefathers  had  been  drawing  gold  from  Sofala  for  a  long  term 
of  years.  Upon  the  report  of  Cabral,  Ba  Gama  turned  out  of 
his  way  to  Mozambique  in  his  second  voyage,  in  1502,  to  enter 
Sofala  and  take  possession  of  Kilwa,  and  three  years  later  Pedro 
da  Nhaya  sailed  from  Lisbon  with  six  ships  and  built  a  fort 
and  trading  station  at  Sofala. 

Behind  this  persistent  push  to  Sofala  there  was  more  than 
the  actual  showing  of  gold.  Here  was  one  of  the  traditional 
gateways  to  King  Solomon's  mines,  and  the  Portuguese  were 
quick  to  embrace  the  tradition.  They  gave  the  glittering  name 
of  Ophir  to  their  fort.  South  of  the  fort  there  runs  a  river, 
called  by  the  Arabs  Sabi,  and  this  was  pounced  upon  as  a 


Dutch  Ships  of  the  XVIIIth  Century. 

probable  twist  of  the  old  Hebrew  Sheba.  From  those  days 
Fort  Ophir  was  the  starting  point  of  Portuguese  adventurers 
in  search  of  the  fountain  head  of  Solomon's  treasures. 

The  Portuguese  then  had  uncommonly  sturdy  sea-legs  and 
asked  nobody  to  show  them  the  way  over  the  ocean  foam,  but 


46        THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


(f. 


o 
u 


o 

X 


H 


Q 

O 
E 

s 


o 

C/3 

o; 
u 


ry 

i  v^- 


IN    TRADITIONAL    OPHIR    LAND 


47 


they  were  far  less  ready  to  weary  their  legs  with  trudging  over 
mountain  ridges  or  scrambling  through  the  dense  thickets  of 
the  rugged  land  west  of  Sofala.  The  Arab  traders  were  more 
ready  to  venture  inland,  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that 
any  of  them  went  farther  than  a  few  hundred  miles,  at  most, 
from  the  seacoast.  It  was  an  exceedingly  difficult  country  to 
penetrate,  and  the  savage  natives  were  jealous  of  any  approach, 
if  they  did  not  stubbornly  bar  the  way  and  murder  intruders. 


E  B  JI  A  N 
EAST 
F  E  I  C  . 


Macloul 
mm 
BECHUANALAND 


Map  showing  the  Position  of  Ancient  Ruins  in  Rhodesia. 


The  horrid  death  of  the  first  Portuguese  viceroy  was  a  warn- 
ing that  struck  deep  into  the  hearts  of  the  earlier  adventurers. 
Francisco  d'  Almeida,  returning  with  his  fleet  from  India  in 
1510,  touched  the  African  coast  near  the  first  landing  of  Diaz. 
To  resent  some  little  clash  with  the  nearest  native  tribe  he  led 
a  troop  of  soldiers  inland  to  surprise  their  village,  but  was  way- 
laid in  the  bush  and  his  troop  was  put  to  flight  by  a  hail  of 
darts  and  stones.  D'  Almeida  put  his  ensign  in  the  hand  of  a 
trusty  follower,  but  in  the  next  moment  he  was  stabbed  in  the 
throat  by  an  assagai  and  his  head  was  crushed  by  the  swing 


48 


THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


of  a  knob  kerrie.  Sixty-five  of  his  picked  swordsmen  fell  with 
him  and  the  rest  only  saved  their  lives  by  abject  flight,  chased 
to  the  shore  by  a  little  band  of  naked  negro  dwarfs. 

This  was  the  greeting  of  a  weak  and  puny  coast  tribe.  What 
then  might  be  feared  from  the  rallying  of  the  fierce  and  stalwart 
blacks  of  the  Bantu  tribes,  under  some  ruthless  chief,  in  the 
fastnesses  of  the  mountain  land  encircling  the  gold  of  Ophir  ? 


Insiza  Ruins. 


Still  there  was  an  enticing  trickle  of  gold  dust  and  nuggets  from 
inland  mines  to  Sofala,  and  the  flow  of  resplendent  stories  was 
vastly  bigger  than  the  golden  stream  in  sight.  So  in  1569  it 
was  resolved  to  make  an  extraordinary  effort  to  penetrate  to  the 
source  of  the  gold.  The  East  African  coast  was  placed  under 
command  of  a  governor  independent  of  the  viceroy  of  India. 
Francisco  Barreto  was  made  the  first  governor,  with  instructions 
to  raise  a  force  of  a  thousand  men  and  lead  them  on  to  the 
capture  of  Ophir.  The  young  cavaliers  of  Lisbon  flocked 
eagerly  to  Barreto's  standard.  He  led  the  way  up  the  Zambesi 
with  a  high-spirited  troop,  but  the  gay  soldiers  were  soon 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR    LAND 


49 


scorched  by  the  sun,  torn  by  thorns,  and  cast  down  by  fevers. 
The  Kalangu  tribe  was  then  the  strongest  of  any  living  between 
the  Sabi  and  Zambesi,  and  Barreto  sought  to  win  the  good  will  of 
its  head  chief  by  offering  to  beat  his  rival.  This  offer  made  him 


Insiza  Ruins. 


welcome,  and  he  kept  his  promise,  but  he  was  soon  after  obliged 
to  appoint  Vasco  Fernandez  Homem  to  the  command  of  his 
troop  and  to  return  to  the  coast.  Homem  soon  followed  him 
with  the  dispirited  remnants  of  the  adventurers.  Barreto  did 
not  live  to  see  the  return  of  his  broken  expedition,  and  Homem 


50         THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

succeeded  him  as  governor.  Then  the  new  governor  tried  an- 
other way  of  approach  to  the  gold  field,  and  finally  pushed  a  party 
through  from  Sofala  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain  which  the 
Kalangu  tribe  called  Kara  and  the  Arabs  Aufur,  transmuted 
forms,  it  was  thought,  of  the  Hebrew  Ophir.  Near  the  base 
of  this  mountain  were  placers  yielding  nuggets  worth  from  two 


Insiza  Ruins. 


to  three  thousand  dollars,  but  the  ordinary  toil  of  placer  wash- 
ing was  so  disgusting  to  the  Portuguese  visionaries  that  they 
gloomily  turned  their  backs  on  the  mines  of  Abasia  and  the 
rock  mark  of  Ophir  and  wearily  made  their  way  back  to  Sofala.1 
This  disappointment  dulled  the  glitter  of  some  old  stories,  but 
there  were  plenty  of  new  ones  to  dazzle  men's  minds. 

It  is  likely  that  the  most  accurate,  as  it  certainly  is  the  full- 
est extant,  account  of  the  mining  in  Ophir  land  is  given  in  the 
story  of  the  old  Spanish  author,  Joano  de  Barros,  whose  life 
spans  the  first  three  quarters  of  the  sixteenth  century.2  It  is 
too  much  to  expect  that  his  "  Da  Asia  "  should  be  free  from 
the  coloring  of  the  ardent  fancy  and  the  myths  of  the  age,  but 
underlying  his  narrative  there  is,  at  most  points,  a  credible 
basis  of  personal  observation  and  the  current  reports  of  many 
witnesses.  He  held  several  high  offices  in  the  Indian  and 

1  "The  Portuguese  in  South  Africa,"  Theal.       "  Conferencias  Celebradas  na 
Academia   Real  das  Sciencias  de  Lisboa,  Acerca  dos  Descobrimentos  e  Colonisa- 
c,oes  dos  Portuguezes  na  Africa."       [At  Lisbon,  1892.] 

2  "Da  Asia,"  Joano  de  Barros  (1496-1570). 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND  51 

African  establishments  of  Portugal,  and  had  exceptional  oppor- 
tunities for  preparing  his  remarkable  memorial. 

In  his  description  the  "mines  of  Manica"  are  placed  "some 
fifty  leagues  west  of  Sofala."  The  Portuguese  league  was  3.84 
English  miles,  and  De  Barros  was  as  loose  as  contemporary  writ- 
ers in  the  measure  of  distances.  "  All  gold  found  there  is  in 
dust,"  he  writes,  "  and  the  workers  have  to  carry  the  earth 
which  they  dig  to  some  place  where  water  can  be  had.  Nobody 
digs  more  than  six  to  seven  spans  deep  (four  to  six  feet),  and  if 
they  go  to  twenty,  they  come  to  hard  rock." 

Beyond  the  Manica  placers,  in  positions  not  defined,  were 
the  mines  of  Boro  and  Quiticui.  There  nuggets  were  found 


Khami  Ruins. 


"  embedded  in  reefs  —  some  already  cleared  by  the  winter  tor- 
rents ;  hence,  in  some  of  the  pools,  such  as  remain  in  summer, 
the  miners  dig  down  and  find  much  gold  in  the  mud  brought 
up.  In  other  localities,  where  are  some  lagoons,  two  hundred 
men  set  at  work  to  drain  off  about  half  the  water,  and  in  the 
mud  which  they  sift  they  also  find  gold,  and  so  rich  is  the 


52        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


ground,  that  if  the  people  were  industrious,  great  quantities 
could  be  had  ;  but  they  are  so  indolent  that  stress  of  hunger 
alone  will  keep  them  at  work.  Hence  Moors  (Arabs)  who 

visit  those  districts 
have  recourse  to  a 
ruse  to  make  them 
diligent.  They  cover 
the  negro  men  and 
women  with  clothes, 
beads,  and  trinkets  in 
which  they  delight, 
and  when  all  are 
pleased  trust  every- 
thing to  them,  telling 

Khami  Ruins.  faem    tQ    go    tQ    worlc 

the  mines,  and  on  their  return,  they  can  pay  for  those  advances ; 
so  that  in  this  way,  by  giving  them  credit,  they  oblige  them  to 
work,  and  so  truthful  are  the  negroes  that  they  keep  their  word- 
"  Other  mines  lie  in  the  district  called  Toroa,  ruled  by  a  vas- 
sal of  Benomotapa.  These  are  the  oldest  known  in  that  region. 
They  are  in  a  plain,  in 
the  middle  of  which 
stands  a  square  fortress, 
all  of  dressed  stones, 
within  and  without,  well 
wrought  and  of  marvel- 
lous size,  without  any 
lime  showing  the  join- 
ings. The  walls  of  this 
fortress  are  over  twenty- 
five  spans  high  (18  to  19 
feet)  but  the  height  is  not  so  great  compared  with  the  thickness. 
And  above  the  gateway  of  that  stronghold  there  is  an  inscrip- 
tion which  some  learned  Moorish  traders  who  were  there  could 
not  read  nor  say  what  writing  it  was.  And  around  this  build- 
ing are  others  on  some  heights,  like  it  in  the  stonework,  in 


Gold  Ornaments  found  in  Ancient  Ruins. 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND 


53 


which  is  a  tower  twelve  bracas  (72  feet)  high.  All  these  struc- 
tures the  people  of  the  country  call  Symbaoe,  which  with  them 
means  a  royal  residence.  They  stand  west  of  Sofala,  under 
latitude  20°  and  21°  south,  one  hundred  and  seventy  leagues 
more  or  less  in  a  straight  line.  ...  In  the  opinion  of  the 
Moors  who  saw  them,  they  seemed  to  be  very  ancient  and  were 


Khami  Ruins. 


built  there  to  hold  possession  of  those  mines,  which  are  very  old, 
from  which  for  years  no  gold  has  been  taken  owing  to  the  wars." 
The  latitude  and  position  of  the  Symbaoe  of  De  Barros  cor- 
respond closely  with  the  site  of  the  ruins  of  Zimbabwe,  described 
three  hundred  years  later  by  the  explorer  Karl  Mauch.  Both 
Zimbabwe  and  its  antique  form,  Symbaoe,  are  plainly  versions 
of  the  local  Bantu  nzimba-mbuie,  a  house  of  the  chief.  It  is 
true  that  the  Zimbabwe  of  Mauch  is  only  two  hundred  and  forty 
miles  west  of  Sofala,  but  the  leagues  of  the  old  chroniclers  were 
not  laid  off  with  the  tape  line. 


54        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 

Who  was  this  Benomotapa  whose  vassal  was  housed  in  such  a 
castle  ?  —  the  mighty  black  sovereign  of  whom  Camoens  sings  — 

"  Ve  do  Benomotapa  o  grande  imperio, 
De  Salvatica  gente,  negra  e  nua  "  ? 

In  dull  fact  Benomotapa  was  simply  the  corrupted  plural 
form  of  Monomotapa,  signifying  Lord  of  the  Mountain,  or  by 
a  possible  stretch  of  derivation,  Master  of  the  Mines.1  This 
was  one  of  the  hereditary  titles  of  the  head  chief  of  the  Kalangu 


Khami  Ruins. 

tribe,  the  largest  and  strongest  of  any  then  living  between  the 
Sabi  and  Zambesi.       His  dwelling  was   at   the  foot  of  Mount 

1  "The  Portuguese  in  South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal. 

Bent  says  the  name  Monomotapa  should  be  written  Muene-matapa,  or  "  lord 
of  Matapa,"  simply  "a  dynastic  name,  just  as  every  petty  chief  in  Mashonaland 
to-day  has  his  dynastic  name,  which  he  takes  on  succeeding  to  the  chiefdom." 
"The  Ruined  Cities  of  Mashonaland,"  p.  285.  Both  titles  have  in  fact  the  same 
meaning  :  the  first  components  bena  and  mono  being  the  still  current  Bantu  words 
bwana,  bana,  muene,  mwana,  that  is  'lord,'  'master,'  'chief,'  'ruler.'  The 
second  part,  motapa,  common  to  both,  probably  means  a  mine,  from  the  Bantu 
word  ta/>a='to  dig,'  'excavate.'  "Africa,"  Vol.  II,  p.  372.  (Stanford's 
Compendium.)  A.  H.  Keane. 


IN    TRADITIONAL    OPHIR    LAND 


55 


Aufur,  which  was  held  in  such  traditional  reverence  that  the 
chief  would  not  permit  the  Portuguese  to  ascend  it.  There  was 
nothing  of  imposing 
splendor  in  the  huts 
of  the  chief  who  re- 
ceived the  embassy 
of  Francisco  Barreto, 
but  no  lack  of  evi- 
dence could  prevent 
romance  from  creat- 
ing an  African  em- 
pire under  the  sway 
of  Monomotapa. 
Some  corner-stones 
for  this  structure  were 
found  in  the  remains 
of  the  works  of  a 
people  of  far  higher 
civilization  than  any 
of  the  existing  native 
tribes,  and  these  relics 
were  prizes  to  a  fancy 
that  clutched  greedily  at  every  drifting  straw  of  report,  tradition, 
and  myth  supplied  by  Arabs  and  negroes. 

Every  one  in  the  suc- 
cession of  romancers,  in 
the  sober  cloak  of  histo- 
rians, of  South  Africa 
would  outdo  his  forerun- 
ners in  inflating  the  bal- 
loon of  the  traditional 
empire.  The  old  Dutch 
writer,  Kleveer,  finally 
puffed  it  up  to  the  bursting  limit  by  bounding  it  "  on  the 
east,  south,  and  west  by  the  Atlantic,  and  north  by  the  king- 
doms of  Congo,  Abyssinia,  and  the  Zanzibar  country.  Even 


Zimbabwe  Ruins. 


Zimbabwe  Ruins. 


56        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 

Dapper,1  whose  really  great  work  is  by  far  the  most  important, 
comprehensive,  and  creditable  presentation  of  the  Africa  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  jots  down  gravely  most  fantastic  details  of 
the  empire  ruled  by  the  royal  line  of  Monomotapa.  He  paints 
a  mammoth  palace  with  four  grand  gateways  leading  to  a  succes- 
sion of  halls  and  chambers,  rivalling  the  handiwork  of  the  slaves 
of  the  lamp  of  Aladdin.  All  the  ceilings  of  the  rooms  were  gilt 
or  covered  with  golden  plates.  For  the  furnishing  of  sumptuous 


„•  A 


Zimbabwe  Ruins. 


couches  and  chairs  there  was  gilding  and  painting  in  rainbow  hues 
and  artful  inlaying  with  enamel.  Ivory  chandeliers,  hanging  on 
silver  chains,  filled  these  resplendent  halls  with  light.  When  his 
majesty  deigned  to  rise  from  his  imperial  bed,  he  was  clothed  by 
his  valets  in  garments  of  native  silk.  All  his  servants  approached 
him  on  bended  knees  and  served  him  like  dumb  slaves.  His 
table  service  of  the  finest  porcelain  was  decorated  with  wreaths  of 
gold,  cunningly  wrought  in  the  fantastic  forms  of  natural  coral. 

1  "  Naukeurige  Beschrijringe  der  Afrikaensche  Gewesten,"  etc.,  Dr.  O.  Dap- 
per, Amsterdam,  1668. 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND 


Zimbabwe  Ruins. 


Two  pounds  of  gold  was  daily  spent  in  perfume  for  the  royal 
nose,  and  torches  of  incense  flamed  day  and  night  around  him. 
When  he  took  an  airing,  he  was  borne  in  a  gorgeous  palanquin 
on  the  shoulders  of  four  of  his  trembling  nobles,  and  his  head 
was  shielded  from  the  profaning  sun  by  a  canopy  studded  with 
precious  stones.  If  he  was  impatient  of  this  slow  promenade,  he 


Zimbabwe  Ruins. 


THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


might  mount  on  an  elephant's  back,  but  on  nothing  meaner,  for 
nobody  in  that  wonderful  country  would  ride  on  any  other  animal. 
It  is  small  wonder  that  the  court  of  monarchs  of  this  splen- 
dor, and  their  golden  cities  of  Davaque  and  Vigiti  Magna,  were 
ardently  hunted  for  by  adventurers,  thirsty  for  every  romance 
gilding  the  dismal  stretches  of  sand  and  thickets  and  rocks 
which  encircled  them  with  the  threads  of  a  trail  to  the  glittering 
realm  of  Monomotapa.  But  the  expeditions  of  Barreto  and 

Homem  were  so  painful,  costly, 
and  discouraging  that  for  many 
years  no  more  explorations  were 
undertaken  by  the  Portuguese 
crown.  The  spirit  of  chivalric 
adventure  drooped  low  after  the 
gallant  young  king  Sebastian 
fell  in  battle  with  the  Moors 
in  1578,  and  even  the  spirit 
that  had  so  greatly  spread  the 
commerce  of  Portugal  was  los- 
ing its  vigor.  There  was  a 

- r"%1&?!£^Hl^^HH£H3l  momentary  arousal  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, when  some  rich  silver  ore 
was  sent  to  Lisbon  by  the 
governor  of  Mozambique.  It 

^^^  was  believed  that  this  ore  came 

f//'i .  tEgfcv^^.  ^feflBBI^BBlBB     from  veins  in  a  region  called  the 
Zimbabwe  Ruins.  Kingdom  of  Chicova,  stretch- 

ing north  from  the  bank  of  the  Zambesi ;  but  there  was  no 
definite  report  of  the  location.  Still  there  was  such  an  impulse 
in  the  sight  of  this  silver  that  the  order  was  sent  to  despatch 
five  hundred  soldiers  to  Chicova.  No  such  force  could  be 
mustered,  but  Nuno  Alvares  Pereira  set  out  from  Mozambique 
with  a  hundred  men.  Soon  Pereira  was  the  victim  of  jeal- 
ous maligning,  and  was  superseded  in  his  command  by  Diogo 
Sinoes  Madeira.  This  commander  succeeded  in  placing  a  few 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND 


59 


trading  stations  along  the  Zambesi,   and   made   a   pretence   of 
opening  mines  by  shipping  some  little  silver  to  Portugal ;   but 


Zimbabwe  Ruins. 

after  a  dozen  years  of  costly  maintenance,  it  was  shown  by  the 
search  of  Pereira  that  the  pretended  discovery  of  silver  was  a 


Zimbabwe  Ruins. 

fraud,  and  disgusted  Portugal  abandoned  the  enterprise  in  I622.1 
1  "The  Portuguese  in  South  Africa,"  Theal. 


60        THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


From  that  year  nothing  of  note  was  attempted  from  the 
stretch  of  seaboard  loosely  held  by  a  few  feeble  garrisons. 
Beyond  the  vague  traditions  and  romances  there  were  no  guide- 
books to  the  rich  realm  of  any  African  monarch,  and  there  was 
no  point  on  the  South  African  coast  outside  of  the  Portuguese 
strip  where  the  least  enticement  was  shown  to  any  visiting  ship. 
Nowhere  was  there  any  evidence  of  an  approach  to  civiliza- 
tion, and  there  was  not  even  the  gilding  of  barbarism.  The 

shore  tribes 
were  filthy, 
famine-hunted 
negroes,  who 
had,  at  most,  a 
little  ivory  or 
a  handful  of 
feathers  to  bar- 
ter for  trinkets. 
There  was  an 
intermixture  of 
blood  and  a 
medley  of 
tribes  and  tribal 
names  that 

confounds  any  tracing  of  distinction  beyond  a  few  blurred  divi- 
sional lines. 

When  the  Dutch  and  English  began  to  tread  upon  the  heels 
of  the  Portuguese  in  Africa,  in  the  opening  years  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  the  tribes  of  the  extreme  south  and  along  the 
southwesterly  Atlantic  coast  might  be  roughly  grouped  under  the 
name  of  Hottentots,  or,  as  they  called  themselves  with  monstrous 
conceit,  Kwa-Kwa,  men  of  men.  In  this  assertion  there  is 
plainly  to  be  seen  the  origin  of  the  Arabic  Vakvak,  the  name 
sketched  in  by  Edrisi  on  his  map  beyond  Sofala.  The  south- 
east African  coast  was  held  by  tribes  of  the  wide-spreading 
Bantu  family,  lumped  together  by  the  Arabs  as  Kafirs.  Filtered 
in  between  the  Bantus  and  Hottentots  were  the  pigmy  Sana, 


Zimbabwe  Ruins. 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND 


61 


rudely  bunched  as  Bushmen.1  There  was  endless  wrangling 
and  fighting  among  the  tribes,  regardless  of  any  common  flow 
of  blood,  and  the  Bantus  and  Hottentots  were  continually  clash- 
ing like  wildcats.  Their  only  union  was  in  their  hate  of  the 
Bushmen,  who  were  hunted 
from  cover  to  cover,  to  hide 
in  crevices  in  the  rocks  or  in 
holes  in  the  desert  sand,  from 
which  they  might  sally,  wasp- 
like,  with  the  deadly  sting 
of  their  poison-tipped  arrows. 

In  view  of  the  repulsive 
face  of  the  South  African 
coast  lands  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  Francis  Drake  and 
many  other  bold  voyagers 
circled  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  without  landing  to 
seek  for  traditional  treasures. 
But  with  the  opening  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  Table 
Bay  became  a  regular  stop- 
ping place  and  refitting  station  for  the  ships  of  the  English  East 
India  Company.  For  twenty  years  this  slight  hold  on  the  con- 
tinent was  maintained,  but  it  was  so  lightly  prized  that  it  was 
dropped  in  1620  by  a  shift  of  the  station  to  St.  Helena.  Thirty- 
two  years  later  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  took  formal 
possession  of  the  Cape  and  its  adjoining  bay  without  any  chal- 
lenging protest,  and  built  their  fort  Good  Hope  as  the  first 
stronghold  of  the  Dutch  dominion  in  southern  Africa.  With 
this  foundation  the  search  for  the  golden  realm  of  Monomotapa 
was  vigorously  and  persistently  revived. 

Jan  van  Riebeeck,  the  leader  of  the  Dutch  colonizing  expe- 
dition and  the  first  commandant  of  the  fort  and  settlement  at 


The  Old  East  India  House,  Leadenhall  Street, 
London. 


1  "South  Africa,"   George  McCall  Theal,  London,  1888-1893. 
African  Tribes,"  Sutherland. 


South 


62        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Cape  Town,  was  a  man  of  ardent  spirit  and  uncommon  energy. 
He  had  entered  the  company's  service  as  a  surgeon's  assistant, 
but  his  ambition  and  ability  had  soon  pushed  him  to  the  front 
and  marked  him  as  a  man  to  fix  and  strengthen  the  grip  of  the 
great  trading  company  on  the  turning-point  of  the  way  to  the 
Indies.  In  his  portrait  dark,  sanguine  eyes  are  set  under  a 
high,  full  forehead,  crowned  with  thick  waving  hair  of  a  cavalier 
cut,  in  keeping  with  his  trim  mustache.  His  well-moulded 
features  and  resolute  chin  have  the  stamp  of  refinement  as  well 
as  action.  He  quickly  put  his  hand  to  every  practical  device  to 
make  the  new  settlement  productive  and  self-supporting.  Nine 
months  after  his  landing  the  first  crop  of  wheat  was  reaped  at 
the  Cape.  In  the  following  year  he  set  out  vines  from  the 
Rhine.  In  his  own  vineyard  the  muscatel  grape  grew  luxuri- 


The  Landing  of  van  Riebeeck. 

antly,  and  a  few  years  later  he  made  the  first  Cape  wine,  a  high- 
flavored  Constantia.  In  the  same  year,  1658,  maize  was  brought 
to  the  colony  from  the  coast  of  Guinea  and  successfully  planted. 
To  the  introduction  of  the  olive,  particularly  urged  by  the  direc- 
tors of  his  company,  he  gave  unremitting  pains,  and  succeeded 
in  rearing  a  fine  grove  of  fruitful  trees  on  his  own  plantation  at 
Wynberg.  In  his  stretch  of  experiment  he  even  tamed  young 
ostriches  and  stocked  the  neighboring  islands  with  rabbits.1 

Such  a  man  was  not  likely  to  be  heedless  of  the  chances  for 

'"South    Africa,"    Theal.      "On    Veld    and    Farm,"    Frances    MacNab, 
London,  1897. 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR    LAND 


the  possible  enrichment  of  his  company  by  penetrating  to  the 
seat  of  the  traditional  empire  and  possibly  to  King  Solomon's 
mines.  He  reckoned  that,  in  any  event,  his  exploring  parties 
would  be  likely  to  succeed  in  uncovering  ore  beds  of  some  use- 
ful metal,  if  not  of  gold  and  silver.  But  he  seems  to  have  had 
great  confidence  in  the  traditions  of  Monomotapa,  and  it  is 
known  that  he  had  before  him  the  highly  colored  work  of 
the  Dutch  traveller  and  author,  Linschoten,  as  well  as  current 


Portrait  of  Johan  Antonyse  van  Riebeeck. 
First  Commandant  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  Born  1618,  died  January  18, 
1672. 


Portrait  of  Maria  de  la  Querellerie  of  Que- 
rellerius,  Wife  of  Johan  Antonyse  van 
Riebeeck.  Born  October  28,  1629,  died 
November  2,  1664. 


Portuguese  books  infused  with  the  romance  of  Africa.  His 
calculation  plotted  the  location  of  Davaque,  the  chief  seat  of 
the  splendors  of  Monomotapa,  at  a  point  828  miles  N.E.  of 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  322  miles  W.  from  the  Indian 
Ocean,  curiously  near  the  present  Witwatersrand.  Davaque 
was  built  by  tradition  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Spirito  Sanctu, 
flowing  into  the  Indian  Ocean  at  Delagoa  Bay.  Nearer  still 
to  the  Cape  was  another  El  Dorado,  the  city  of  Vigiti  Magna, 
which  was  confidently  located  on  or  near  the  meridian  of  30°  S., 
and  not  much  more  than  three  hundred  miles  from  the  Cape. 


64        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

The  first  push  into  the  unknown  land  north  of  Fort  Good 
Hope  was  made  in  1657  by  a  little  party  headed  by  Abraham 
Gabbema,  Fiscal,  and  Secretary  of  the  Council  of  the  colony. 
Gabbema  led  the  way  to  the  first  big  beacon  in  sight,  a  peak 
with  a  grotesque  flat  top  which  the  colonists  had  already  chris- 
tened Klapnuits,  or  night  cap  mountain.  Skirting  the  base  of 
this  peak  he  pushed  to  the  next  conspicuous  landmark,  bearing 
toward  the  west,  a  mountain  with  bare  rugged  pinnacles  of  rock, 
which  the  explorers  dully  called  Great  Berg,  and  gave  the  same 
name  to  the  river  flowing  below. 


Constantly. 


It  was  in  the  middle  of  October  when  the  party  set  out,  but 
this  was  the  prime  of  the  springtime  in  South  Africa.  On  the 
lower  slopes  of  the  Great  Berg  herds  were  grazing  that  had 
never  seen  the  face  of  a  white  man  nor  felt  the  sting  of  a  bullet. 
Zebras  capered  over  the  hillsides,  the  unwieldy  rhinoceros  wal- 
lowed in  the  high  grass,  and  hippopotami  plunged  and  snorted 
in  the  turbid  rivers.  Every  step  of  the  way  was  a  new  wonder- 
ment to  the  explorers,  and  when  the  rising  sun  struck  the  moun- 
tain tops  with  its  flame,  two  transfigured  peaks  gleamed  like 
prodigious  gems  in  their  eyes,  and  were  forthwith  distinguished 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND  65 

as  Paarl  and  Diamant.  These  sunlit  crests  were  the  only  things 
in  sight,  however,  that  had  any  glitter  of  the  realm  of  Mono- 
motapa,  and  after  a  little  further  advance  into  the  unknown  field, 
Gabbema's  party  turned  back. 

The  next  excursion  was  more  daring.  By  promising  rich 
rewards  van  Riebeeck  formed  a  party  of  thirty  volunteers  headed 
by  Jan  Danckert.  They  took  along  a  small  stock  of  bread  on 
three  pack  oxen,  relying  for  their  main  supply  of  food  on  the  game 
which  they  might  kill  on  their  way.  These  hardy  volunteers 
plodded  north,  inclining  to  the  west  along  the  foot  of  the  coast 
range.  They  saw  whirlwinds  of  dust  and  a  few  roving  Bushmen, 
but  nowhere  any  trace  of  a  monarchy  except  what  they  called  "  A 
Kingdom  of  Moles,"  where  the  burrowed  ground  sank  under 
their  feet  and  they  could  hardly  flounder  along.  In  December 
they  reached  a  river  flowing  toward  the  Atlantic,  on  whose  far- 
ther shore  they  saw  a  herd  of  more  than  two  hundred  elephants 
feeding.  So  they  called  the  stream  Olifants  River,  a  name 
which  it  has  borne  since  that  day,  and  trudged  back  wearily  to 
tell  their  story  to  the  commandant  at  the  Cape.  Within  ten 
days  after  their  return,  January  20,  1661,  van  Riebeeck,  the  un- 
tiring, mustered  another  party,  of  thirteen  adventurers  and  two 
Hottentot  attendants,  and  sent  them  away  on  the  track  of  the 
discoverers  of  Olifants  River. 

Corporal  Pieter  Cruythof  led  ofF  this  party,  which  succeeded 
in  crossing  the  river  of  the  elephants  and  reaching  the  land  of 
the  Namaquas,  a  Hottentot  tribe  of  the  highest  class.  Here  the 
explorers  found  natives  who  had  rude  copper  ornaments  twisted 
in  tufts  of  their  hair,  and  wore  rings  of  copper  and  ivory  on 
their  arms.  They  entertained  the  white  visitors  with  cheering 
hospitality  and  gave  a  grand  dance  in  honor  of  the  embassy. 
This  was  the  nearest  approach  to  the  civilization  of  the  tra- 
ditional empire  that  had  hitherto  been  reached  by  Dutch  ex- 
ploration, and  the  return  of  the  adventurers  on  March  n, 
1 66 1,  after  forty  days'  wandering,  was  warmly  welcomed  by  van 
Riebeeck. 

Before  two  weeks  had  passed  he  had  another  excursion  under 


66        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 

way  led  by  Corporal  Meerhoff,  which  penetrated  into  Namaqua- 
land  farther  than  any  white  man  had  ever  gone,  but  brought 
back  bitterly  discouraging  reports.  It  was  learned  that  the 
Namaquas  had  uncovered  some  veins  of  copper  and  iron  ore 
and  had  some  crude  process  of  smelting  and  working  both 
metals,  but  it  did  not  appear  to  be  practicable  to  undertake  to 
open  mines  at  points  so  far  from  the  Cape  in  a  region  that  for 
many  months  in  the  year  was  a  torrid  desert.  There  was  no 
trace  of  gold  or  rumor  even  of  any  distant  land  of  gold.  Over 
every  day's  march  was  the  hanging  terror  of  death  by  thirst  or 
hunger  or  savage  attack. 

Still  the  unflagging  commandant  would  not  give  up  the 
search,  and  in  the  following  November  Corporal  MeerhofF 
went  back  with  another  party  of  volunteers  to  Namaqualand,  as 
second  in  command  under  Sergeant  Pieter  Everaert.  This 
expedition  was  better  equipped  for  exploration  than  any  previ- 
ous one  that  had  set  out  from  the  Cape,  and  it  was  three  months 
before  it  returned  to  Fort  Hope.  Yet  it  had  nothing  new  to 
tell  —  only  to  repeat  the  same  dreary  story  of  painful  tramps 
over  sun-scorched  sands  and  jagged  ridges  of  rock,  of  blinding 
whirls  of  dust  and  the  blare  and  clash  and  drench  of  terrific 
thunder-storms,  of  sleep  broken  by  nightly  alarms,  of  lurking 
Bushmen  and  prowling  lions.  One  of  the  party  had  been  gored 
and  trampled  to  pulp  by  an  elephant,  and  his  comrades  counted 
themselves  lucky  in  reaching  the  Cape  fort  empty-handed, 
gaunt,  and  footsore. 

Even  after  this  sickening  rebuff,  the  next  year  saw  a  renewal 
of  the  attempt  to  reach  the  elusive  empire  of  Monomotapa. 
Then  Sergeant  Jonas  de  la  Guerre  set  out  with  a  little  troop  of 
adventurers  not  yet  disheartened.  But  they  were  not  able  to 
push  their  search  into  Namaqualand  as  far  as  former  explorers 
had  gone,  for  they  could  not  find  a  mouthful  of  water  in  the 
desert  sands,  and  were  in  imminent  peril  of  dying  from  thirst. 
This  repulse  was  a  crushing  blow  to  the  stubborn  spirit  that  had 
borne  so  many  buffets.  The  enterprising  van  Riebeeck  had 
been  transferred  to  the  government  of  Java  in  the  previous  year, 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND  67 

and  his  successor  was  a  man  of  much  fainter  heart  and  energy. 
So  for  nearly  a  score  of  years  the  search  for  the  traditional 
empire  lagged,  although  there  was  a  considerable  show  of  less 
venturesome  prospecting.  One  notable  undertaking  was  the 
despatch  of  a  party  of  expert  assayers  and  miners  from  the 
Netherlands  to  Cape  Town  in  1669  by  tne  Dutch  East  India 
Company,  with  instructions  to  search  for  any  promising  outcrops 
of  ore  in  the  region  of  the  Cape.  This  party  prospected  for 
several  years,  but  found  nothing  to  inspire  any  investment  in 
mining.1 

A  revival  of  the  dazzling  old  visions  came  in  1681,  with  the 
appearance  at  the  Cape  of  a  party  of  Namaquas  bearing  pieces 
of  rich  copper  ore.  This  exhibit  spurred  the  East  India  Com- 
pany to  direct  another  exploration  of  Namaqualand.  Then  the 
commandant  at  the  Cape  was  a  man  of  the  stamp  of  van  Rie- 
beeck,  commander  Simon  van  der  Stel.  He  was  quick  to 
despatch  a  company  of  thirty  soldiers,  a  draughtsman,  and  a 
reporter  to  make  the  venture  so  often  tried  in  vain.  Again,  after 
months  of  struggle,  the  desert  drove  them  back.  Van  der  Stel 
then  resolved  to  make  an  effort  far  surpassing  any  put  forth 
before  by  adventurers  from  the  Cape.  He  formed  a  party  of 
forty-two  white  men,  soldiers,  miners,  and  draughtsmen,  with  ten 
Hottentot  servants  and  guides.  The  expedition  was  provisioned 
for  four  months,  and  equipped  with  two  boats,  a  train  of  wagons, 
several  horses,  and  a  herd  of  pack  oxen.  Ensign  Olaf  Bergh 
was  put  in  command  and  led  his  company  on  to  Namaqualand. 
But  it  was  the  same  old  story.  No  strength  of  men  or  oxen 
availed  against  the  desert.  No  rain  had  fallen  in  the  wilderness 
north  of  the  Olifants  River  for  twelve  months,  and  the  whole 
region  was  an  arid  waste  without  a  trickle  of  moisture.  So 
Bergh  and  his  companions  faced  about  in  despair,  and  marched 
back  to  report  their  failure.  Sergeant  Izaak  Schuyver  and 
another  forlorn-hope  party  tried  their  luck  in  the  following 
year,  and  pushed  over  the  desert  a  little  farther  than  Bergh,  but 
brought  nothing  back  except  a  sack  of  copper  ore  on  a  pack  ox. 
1  "  South  Africa,"  Theal,  Vols.  I  and  2. 


68        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

As  a  last  resort  the  unflinching  commander  van  der  Stel 
resolved  to  head  an  exploring  party  himself.  He  obtained 
special  permission  from  the  directors  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, and  his  expedition  was  ordered  in  keeping  with  his  distinc- 
tion as  the  head  of  the  Dutch  power  at  the  Cape,  and  with  the 
labors  and  perils  of  the  venture.  He  left  the  Castle  of  Good 
Hope,  August  25,  1685,  with  fifty-six  white  followers  and  a 
troop  of  Hottentot  attendants.  Twenty-three  wagons  and  carts 
were  packed  with  supplies.  Besides  the  draught  teams,  there 
were  two  hundred  spare  oxen,  thirteen  horses,  and  eight  mules. 
For  the  dignity  and  comfort  of  the  commander  there  was  a 
coach,  but  this  touch  of  parade  was  chiefly  introduced  to  impress 
the  native  tribes  and  possibly  a  negro  emperor  with  the  grandeur 
of  the  sovereignty  despatching  such  an  embassy. 

The  time  of  year  chosen  for  the  start  was  precisely  the  same 
as  that  picked  for  the  expedition  of  Bergh  two  years  before,  but 
the  difference  in  the  face  of  the  country  would  amaze  any  one 
who  had  never  seen  the  magic  of  rain-falls  on  South  African 
deserts.  Fresh,  juicy  grass  and  vernal  flowers  were  sprouting 
from  a  soil  of  seemingly  lifeless  sand.  Birds  were  building 
their  nests  in  the  leafy  thickets,  insects  were  creeping  or  buzzing 
in  swarms,  and  a  myriad  of  butterflies  were  fluttering  their  gay 
wings  over  the  green  sward  and  blossoms.  After  years  of 
drought  there  had  come  a  season  of  heavy  rains.  The  arid 
sands  were  soaked,  torrents  foamed  through  the  windings  of 
the  dry  water-courses,  and  the  region  north  of  Olifants  River, 
which  had  been  an  impassable  barrier  to  so  many  explorers,  was 
quite  easily  penetrated  by  the  cumbrous  procession  of  van  der 
Stel.  Van  der  Stel's  farm  and  residence  were  near  the  present 
town  of  Somerset  West  and  not  far  from  Stellenbosch,  which 
was  named  after  him.  His  fine  old  house,  "  Vergelegen,"  is 
still  one  of  the  remarkable  landmarks  of  these  sturdy  old  Dutch 
settlers.  They  planted  avenues  of  oaks,  camphor  trees,  and 
pines,  which  to-day  tend  to  make  Cape  Town  and  its  environs 
one  of  the  most  charming  spots  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  The 
old  picture  of  van  der  Stel's  house,  "  Vergelegen,"  shows  it 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND 


69 


partly  hidden  by  a  huge  camphor  tree,  which  measures  nine  feet 
in  diameter. 

As  the  expedition  advanced,  it  found  various  promising 
showings  of  copper  ore,  and  the  croppings  were  particularly  rich 
in  a  range  lying  a  little  below  the  meridian  of  30°  S.,  where  one 
peak  was  singled  out  as  "  copper  mountain."  Van  der  Stel  had 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  line  of  the  supposed  location  of  the 
golden  city  of  Vigiti  Magna,  and  he  pushed  his  search  along 


Vergelegen. 

this  line  to  the  Atlantic,  but  he  could  nowhere  pick  up  a  trace 
of  the  traditional  city  or  any  other  vestige  of  the  realm  of 
Monomotapa.  He  did  not  even  meet  with  any  strange  mon- 
sters or  romantic  adventures,  except  perhaps  the  charge  of  a 
huge  rhinoceros,  which  upset  his  coach  and  forced  him  to  fly  for 
his  life.  After  six  months  of  travel  his  notable  exploring  party 
came  back  to  the  Cape,  without  any  tidings  of  good  cheer  to 
the  founders  of  the  colony.  The  only  relic  of  the  tradition  of 
empire  left  in  the  lands  it  had  traversed  was  the  attaching  of  the 
name  of  Vigiti  Magna  to  the  great  river  first  shown  on  any  map 
in  the  chart  of  this  exploration.  It  had  found  rich  copper  ore 
in  Namaqualand,  but  the  deposits  were  too  far  from  the  base 


70          THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

of  transportation  and  supply  to  warrant  the  undertaking  of 
mining.1 

Van  der  Stel  was  fitly  rewarded,  four  years  later,  by  an  ap- 
pointment as  the  first  governor  of  the  Cape  Colony,  in  recog- 
nition of  his  exploring  enterprise  and  other  displays  of  energy  ; 
but  his  pricking  of  the  painted  bubble  of  Vigiti  Magna  was  a 
bitter  disappointment  to  the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  and  a 
grievous  thing  to  all  adventurers  filled  with  the  conceit  of  a  cen- 
tury of  tradition.  It  was  true  that  Davaque  or  some  other  glit- 
tering city  might  lie  farther  to  the  east  and  north  than  any  point 
yet  reached  by  Dutch  explorers,  but  with  the  growing  familiarity 
with  the  land  and  natives  of  southern  Africa  there  was  a  swelling 
discredit  of  the  fine  tales  of  the  Dutch  and  Portuguese  roman- 
cers. The  myth  of  the  realm  of  Monomotapa  was  practically 
starved  to  death  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
unfortunately  the  greatly  persistent  daring  of  the  Dutch  explor- 
ers grew  cold  with  its  impulse.  When  adventurers  began  to 
disbelieve  in  the  marvellous  empire  and  even  doubt  the  location 
of  the  mines  of  Solomon  and  the  throne  of  Sheba,  there  was  no 

f 

very  potent  lure  in  the  dusty  karoos  and  rocky  ravines  of  South 
Africa.  No  discovery  of  ore,  except  possibly  of  the  precious 
metals,  was  likely  to  be  of  any  reward  to  a  prospector,  and  it 
was  even  questionable  whether  rich  veins  of  gold  or  silver  could 
be  successfully  opened  and  worked  at  any  considerable  dis- 
tance beyond  the  narrow  range  of  the  Dutch  settlement  at  the 
Cape. 

So  the  credulous  search  for  Ophir  and  the  mythical  realms  in 
Africa  came  to  an  end,  and  for  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  there  was  little  life  in  the  tradition  of  King  Solomon's 
mines,  until  its  embers  were  rekindled  by  the  daring  advances 
and  glowing  fancies  of  the  intrepid  explorer,  Karl  Mauch.  In 
1858  Mauch  marked  the  Lydenburg  district  as  a  probable  gold- 

1  "South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal,  Vol.  I,  pp.  370-380. 

These  copper  mines  came  into  possession  of  an  English  company  known  as 
the  Cape  Copper  Company  in  1853,  since  which  time  copper  to  the  value  of 
^11,000,000  has  been  produced. 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND  71 

field,  and  in  1871  he  won  the  honor  of  reaching  and  first  clearly 
describing  the  extraordinary  ruins  of  Zimbabwe  and  its  adjacent 
gold-fields.  Unfortunately  for  his  credit  as  an  archaeologist  he 
insisted  on  the  fancy  that  the  old  building  on  the  hill  was  a  copy 
of  King  Solomon's  temple  on  Mount  Moriah  and  that  the  lower 
ruins  reproduced  the  palace  inhabited  by  the  Queen  of  Sheba 
during  her  stay  of  several  years  in  Jerusalem.1  This  does  not 
impair,  however,  the  probable  accuracy  of  his  main  contention 


that  he  had  revealed  part  of  the  ancient  workings  of  the  people 
who  furnished  the  flow  of  gold  to  Arabia  and  Judaea  in  the  days 
of  King  Solomon.2 

^'The  Ruined  Cities  of  Mashonaland,"  J.  Theodore  Bent,  London, 
1896. 

2  "  It  was  really  (Adam)  Renders  who  first  discovered  these  ruins  three 
years  before  Mauch  saw  them,  though  Mauch  and  Baines  first  published  them  to 
the  world,  and  they  only  described  what  the  old  Portuguese  writers  talked  of 
hundreds  of  years  ago."  E.  A.  Maund,  "  Geo.  Proc.,"  February,  1891, 
p.  105. 


72         THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Entrance  to  Boschendal. 


The  extent  of  these  old  workings  has  been  proved  beyond 
doubt  by  the  reports  of  Hartley,  Mauch,  Baines,  Nelson,  and 
later  explorers,  and  a  precise  and  graphic  study  of  Zimbabwe  and 

other  ancient  structures 
in  Mashonaland  was 
made  in  1891—92  by  J. 
Theodore  Bent  and  his 
associates  in  the  expedi- 
tion chiefly  promoted  by 
the  Royal  Geographical 
Society,  the  British  Char- 
tered Company  of  South 
Africa,  and  the  British 
Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science.  Bent's  expedition  located  Zimbabwe  in 
latitude  20°  16'  30"  south,  longitude  31°  7'  30"  east;  slightly 
differing  from  the  position  given  by  Mauch.1  Bent  holds  that 
Zimbabwe  is  of  Abantu  origin  and  may  be  freejy  translated 
"  Here  is  the  great  kraal," 
meaning  the  kraal  of  the 
native  head  chief  of  the  dis- 
trict. This  name,  however, 
marked  only  the  native  occu- 
pation of  the  buildings,  and 
Bent  sees  in  the  ancient  ruins 
and  workings  "  evidence  of  a 
cult  known  to  Arabia  and 
Phoenicia  alike,  temples  built 
on  accurate  mathematical  prin- 
ciples, containing  kindred 
objects  of  art,  methods  of 
producing  gold  known  to  Boschendal. 

have  been  employed  in  the   ancient  world,  and  evidence  of  a 
vast  population  devoted  to  the  mining  of  gold." 

1  "  List  of  Stations  in  Mashonaland  astronomically  observed,  with  Altitudes," 
by  Robert  M.  W.  Swan. 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND 


73 


74        THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Lekkerwijn. 


Without  entering  into  the  varied  researches  supporting  the 
views  of  Schlechter,  Keane,  and  other  leading  authorities,  it  may 
be  observed  that  the  main  conclusions  pithily  summarized  by 

Professor  Keane  are  strongly 
backed.  Ophir  was  not  a 
source  of  gold,  but  its  dis- 
tributer, as  the  port  on  the 
south  coast  of  Arabia  through 
which  the  flow  of  gold  came 
by  sea.  It  is  identified  with 
the  Moschaor  Portus  Nobilis 
of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
geographers. 

Havilah  was  the  land 
whence  came  the  gold  of 
Ophir,  a  great  tract  in 
southeastern  Africa,  lying 
north  of  the  Limpopo  and  largely  identified  with  the  range  of 
the  modern  Rhodesia.  The  ancient  gold  workings  of  this  region 
were  first  opened  by 
the  South  Arabian 
Himyarites,  who 
were  followed  (but 
not  before  the  time 
of  Solomon)  by  the 
Phoenicians,  and 
these  very  much  later 
by  the  Moslem 
Arabs.  Tharshish 
was  the  outlet  for 
the  precious  metals 
and  stones  of  Havi- 
lah, and  stood  probably  on  the  present  site  of  Sofala.  The 
Queen  of  Sheba  came  by  land  and  not  over  the  seas  to  the 
court  of  Solomon.  Her  kingdom  was  Yemen,  the  Arabia  Felix 
of  the  ancients. 


Lekkerwijn.     (Back  view.) 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND 


75 


Bien  Donne,  Groot  Constantia. 

In  a  word,  the  "Gold  of  Ophir"  came  from  Havilah 
(Rhodesia),  and  was  worked  and  brought  thence  first  by  the 
Himyarites  (Sabseans  and 
Minaeans),  later  by  the  Phoe- 
nicians, the  chief  ports  engaged 
in  the  traffic  being  Ezion-geber 
in  the  Red  Sea,  Tharshish  in 
Havilah,  and  midway  between 
the  two,  Ophir  in  South 
Arabia.1 

For  sixty  years  from  the 
opening  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury there  was  no  considerable 
exploration,  or  even  prospect- 
ing of  any  consequence,  in  the 
region  north  of  the  meridian 
passing  through  the  Olifants 
River.  Yet  even  in  this  ap- 


1  A.  H.  Keane. 


Overmantel  and  Old  Dutch  Relics.    (Lekkerwijn.) 


76         THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Bien  Donn£,  Groot  Constantia. 

parent  cessation  of  enterprise  there  was  a  continuous  progress, 
almost  essential  to  the  successful  advance  of  later  exploration. 
The  Dutch  settlement  at  the  Cape  was  expanding.  Year  after 
year  pioneer  settlers  pushed  out  farther  from  the  Castle,  moving 

up  the  river  valleys,  and  cling- 
ing at  first  to  the  base  of  hill 
ranges  where  the  essential  sup- 
ply of  water  was  most  surely 
attainable.  After  the  taking  up 
of  the  choice  locations,  later 
comers  passed  on  over  the  open 
veld,  and  it  was  seen  that  there 
were  large  tracts  of  land,  un- 
suited  to  agriculture,  which 
would  serve  well  as  ranges  for 
cattle  and  sheep. 

For    many   years,  however, 
the  raising  of  wheat  was  of  prime 
Donne,  Groot  Constantia.  importance   in  the  eyes  of  the 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND 


77 


Dutch  farmers  ;  for  this  product  fetched  the  highest  price  rela- 
tively, and  any  surplus  was  eagerly  called  for  by  ships  that 

touched  at  the  Cape  or  by  the 

demand  for  the  supply  of  East 

Indian    settlements.       In     1685 

the    first    export    of   grain    was 

shipped,    and    strenuous    efforts 

were   made   to   extend   the   area 

of  land  in  cultivation.  A  bo- 
tanic garden  had  been  one  of 

the    early    undertakings    of   the 

company,  to  serve  as  a  nursery 

for  European,  East  Indian,  and 

native    plants,    and    under    the 

direction  of  Commander  van  der 

Stel  this  nursery  was  made  the 

pride  of  the  Cape  as  an  exhibit 

as    well    as    a    very    serviceable 

source   of   supply  of  seeds  and 

plants  for  the  garden  and  farm  lands.     The  growth  of  the  olive 

had  been  particularly  urged,  and  it  seemed  at  first  to  be  likely 

to  flourish,  but  the 
success  of  the  grove 
of  van  Riebeeck  was 
not  attained  by  plant- 
ers generally.  There 
was  a  considerable 
advance  in  vine  plant- 
ing and  the  produc- 
tion of  wine,  and  in 
1672  the  distillation 
of  brandy  was  begun. 

Doorway,  Palmeit  Vallei.  J{  wag   hoped  that  the 

Cape  wine  could  be  made  an  export  of  consequence,  but  the  taste 
of  the  Dutch  planters  preferred  a  sweet,  strong  fermentation  to 
clear,  light  wines,  and  they  lacked  the  skill  or  the  strong  desire 


Farm  House,  Klein  Drakenstein. 


78         THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


to  modify  their  product  to  compete  with  French  vine  growers.1 
So  the  only  considerable  consumption  of  Cape  wine,  outside  of 

, ,     the     colony,    was 

from  the  crews  of 
visiting  vessels. 

There  was  no 
lagging  on  the 
part  of  the  East 
India  Company  in 
efforts  to  stimu- 
late the  industries 
of  their  colony. 
Upon  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  edict 

A  Wine  Farm  at  Klein  Drakenstein.  of     Nantes     (Qct. 

28,  1685)  by  Louis  XIV.,  the  steadfast  Huguenots  were  forced 
to  seek  new  homes  in  foreign  lands,  and  many  were  cordially 
encouraged  and  aided  to  pass  over  sea  to  the  young  Cape  Colony. 


Muller's  Farm,  Achter  Paarl. 


Their  expert  knowledge  of  the  growth  of  the  vine  and  olive  was 

highly  valued,  and  it  was  also  desired  to  bring  in  tanners,  har- 

1  "  On  Veld  and  Farm,"  Frances  MacNab. 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND 


79 


Dutch  Farm  House. 


ness  makers,  wheelwrights,  metal  workers,  and  other  artisans  of 
essential  service  to  the  spreading  settlements  of  farmers.  In 
the  allotments  of  land  special  care  was  taken  to  distribute 
the  influx  of  foreign  blood 
so  that  it  must  necessarily 
fuse  with  the  main  body  of 
settlers.  This  design  was  so 
well  carried  out  that  in  a  few 
generations  the  only  abso- 
lutely distinct  survival  of 
this  Huguenot  migration  was 
the  perpetuation  of  the  old 
French  family  names.  But 
the  combination  of  these  two 
strong  strains  of  blood  made 
a  compound  of  remarkable 
character. 

Besides     this     promoted  Muller.s  rarm>  Achter  Paarl. 


8o 


THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


immigration  of  men 
there  was  an  equally 
shrewd  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  company  to 
advance  the  breeding 
of  horses,  cattle,  and 
sheep.  Stallions  were 
imported  from  Persia 
to  improve  the  stock, 
which  had  been  falling 
off  in  size  and  quality 
though  increasing  in 
uumber.  Spanish  rams 
were  used  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  the  South 
African  breed  of  meri- 
nos, and  the  Angora 
goats  bore  transplacing 
excellently,  and  soon 

browsed  greedily  on  the  coarse  grasses  of  the  Cape. 

By  the  advances  of  the  voortrekkers  or  pioneer  farmers  the 

range  of  settlement  was  extended  so  far  in  1761  that  the  start  of 


Palmeit  Vallei,  Klein  Drakenstein. 


'V 


Muller's  farm,  Achter  Paarl. 


IN   TRADITIONAL   OPHIR   LAND 


81 


Mooi  Kelder,  Lower  Paarl. 

the  first  large  exploring  party  since  the  return  of  the  van  der 
Stel  expedition  was  made  in  that  year  from  a  rendezvous  near 
the  mouth  of  Olifants  River.  This  party  was  led  by  Captain 
Hendrik  Hop  of  the  burgher  militia,  and  was  made  up  of  seven- 
teen whites  and 
sixty-eight  half- 
breed  Hottentot 
servants.  It 
started  in  August 
and  advanced  on 
the  track  of  the 
former  expedi- 
tion, passing  the 
Copper  Moun- 
tains of  Little  Plaisis  de  Merle,  Groote  Drakenstein. 

Namaqualand,  and  reaching  the  river  Vigiti  Magna  on  Septem- 
ber 29.  This  river  was  familiarly  called  by  the  colonists  the 
Groote  (Great)  River,  and  held  this  name  until  both  the  tradi- 


82 


THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


tional  and  common  names  were  supplanted  by  a  new  christening 
in  1779,  when  Colonel  Robert  Jacob  Gordon,  commanding  the 

garrison  at  Cape  Castle,  led 
another  expedition  up  the 
river,  and  named  it  Orange 
in  honor  of  the  stadtholder. 

Hop's  exploring  party  met 
a  troup  of  giraffes  soon  after 
crossing  the  Groote  River, 
and  won  the  distinction  of 
furnishing  the  first  skin  of  a 
giraffe  from  South  Africa  to 
the  Museum  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Leyden.  But  except- 
ing this  novel  chase  there  was 
little  to  attract  the  explorers. 
The  sun  scorched  them  relent- 

Donkerhoek,  Groot  Drakenstein.  i         i       •          i  i  i 

lessly  in  the  open  desert,  and 

they  could  nowhere  find  water  except  in  the  deep  sand-pits  dug 
by  the  roving  natives.  Sometimes  there  was  a  shallow  puddle 
at  the  bottom  of 
one  of  these  pits, 
and  even  when  the 
sand  was  barely 
moist,  further  dig- 
ging to  the  under- 
lying stone  would 
sometimes  yield  a 
trickle  of  water. 
Still  they  pushed 
on  stubbornly  to 
the  farthest  point 

Vet     reached     from  AWineCellar.    H erd  of  Cape  Goats. 

the  Cape,  in  latitude  26°   18'  S.,  before  turning  back  to   bring 
home  their  discouraging  story. 

It  was  thirty  years  before  this  advance  was  outstripped  by 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR    LAND 


Willem  van  Reenen,  of  the  farm  Zeekoevlei  on  the  Olifants 
River.  This  adventurous  farmer  set  out  in  1791  with  four 
fellow  colonists  and  a  number  of  Hottentot  servants,  and  reached 
on  the  1 8th  of  November  the  end  of  the  trek  of  Captain 
Hop's  party.  Prowling  Bushmen  and  lions  beset  their  camps 
continually,  and  in  January,  1799,  tne7  nad  to  beat  off  a  fierce 
swoop  of  a  party 
of  Namaquas.  Yet 
they  pressed  on 
until  March  14, 
when  they  came 
to  a  little  oasis 
which  they  named 
Modder  Fontein, 
or  muddy  spring. 
Then  they  turned 
back  after  a  few 
days'  rest,  and 
plodded  home  to 
the  farm  Zeekoe- 
vlei, which  they 
reached  on  the 
2oth  of  June. 
They  had  killed 
sixty-five  rhinoc- 
eros and  six 
giraffes,  without 
reckoning  their 
bag  of  smaller  game,  and  brought  back  exultantly  wagon  loads 
of  copper  ore,  which  they  supposed  to  be  gold  until  their  hopes 
were  blighted  by  assayers  at  the  Cape.1 

The  depressing  reports  from  these  expeditions  were  not  the 

least  of  the  straws  that  finally  broke  the  back  of  the  Dutch  East 

India  Company.     For  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  their  colony 

in  South  Africa  had  been  a  continual  drain  and  burden.     All 

1  »  South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal. 


Tatr,  1757. 


84        THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


An  Old  Farm  House,  Lower  Paarl. 


the  expedients  and  efforts  of  the  energetic  directors  of  the  com- 
pany in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  such  faithful  servants  as 
van  Riebeeck  and  van  der  Stel,  had  failed  to  develop  any  mines 
or  any  product  for  export  of  any  considerable  importance.  With 

the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century  there 
was  an  evident  drooping 
in  the  enterprise  of  the 
company,  and  a  drift 
toward  hopeless  discour- 
agement, which  culmi- 
nated in  1794  with  the 
declaration  of  bankruptcy. 
The  company's  debt  was 
^10,000,000  sterling, 
and  its  credit  was  utterly  exhausted.  It  could  no  longer  under- 
take even  to  maintain  a  feeble  garrison  at  the  Castle  for  the 
defence  of  its  colony.  Issues  of  depreciated  and  irredeemable 
paper  had  driven  out  all  gold  and  silver  from  circulation  at 
the  Cape.  Debts  could  be  paid  in  this  paper,  which  was  legal 
tender,  but  nobody  would  receive  it  in  exchange  for  goods 
except  at  such  a  discount  that  there  was  a  general  resort  to 
barter.  Internal  trade  was  para- 
lyzed, and  a  little  wheat,  wine, 
and  tallow  was  all  that  could  be 
squeezed  out  of  the  colony  for 
export  to  Java  and  India.  The 
straggling  settlers  on  the  north- 
ern frontier  were  continually 

fighting       with        the        Ishmaelite  Farm  House.  Achter  Paarl. 

Bushmen,  and  the  Kafirs  on  the  northeast  were  still  more 
harassing  and  formidable.  Every  kraal  was  a  rude  fort  and 
every  family  a  garrison.  Ammunition  was  growing  scarce  and 
costly,  and  there  was  no  hope  of  succor  from  the  Castle  at  the 
Cape. 

In  view  of  this  patent  collapse,  the  stretching  out  of  the 


IN   TRADITIONAL    OPHIR   LAND 


strong  arm  of  Great  Britain  to  seize  the  Cape  in  1795  should 
have  been  as  welcome  as  rescue  to  a  wreck.  Then  for  the  first 
time  a  power  took  hold  of  the  way  station  of  East  Indian  trade, 
and  its  straggling  offshoots,  that  had  the  strength  and  the  skill 
and  the  far-reaching  conception  to 
do  more  than  repress  savage  on- 
slaughts and  defend  grazing 
grounds,  —  to  open  great  mines, 
to  convert  arid  karoos  into  irri- 
gated plantations,  to  extend  the 
network  of  railways,  and  stretch 
in  time  the  steel  band  of  civiliza- 
tion across  the  darkest  zone  of 
Africa.  This  Britannia  has  done 
and  is  doing,  either  in  her  imperial 
way,  or  by  the  hands  of  the  sons 
who  have  labored  to  make  her 
greater. 

But  the  coming  of  this  saving 
and  transforming  power  had  the  appearance,  at  the  time,  of  a 
hostile  attack.  The  Netherlands,  in  1793,  were  wholly  under 
the  thumb  of  the  new  French  republic,  and  war  was  declared 
against  Great  Britain  through  controlling  French  influence. 
There  had  been  some  revolting  against  the  further  collection 

of  taxes  by  officers  of 
the  East  India  Com- 
pany, but  the  colonists 
as  a  body  did  not  want 
any  foreign  interference. 
So  the  little  garrison  in 
the  Castle  at  the  Cape 
put  on  a  defiant  front, 

Cape  Cart.  ancj  raHJed  tO  itS  Support 

a  number  of  burgher  volunteers  when  a  strong  British  fleet  sailed 
into  Table  Bay  in  the  first  week  of  September,  1795.  It  was  ap- 
parent, however,  even  to  the  boldest  Dutch  defender,  that  resist- 


Brand  Solder  (Fire  Loft).     For  the 
prevention  of  fire. 


86         THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


ance  was  hopeless,  and  Cape  Town,  with  its  castle  and  garrison, 
surrendered  to  Admiral  Sir  George  Elphinstone  and  General  Sir 
Alured  Clarke,  on  the  sixteenth  of  September.  So  was  ended 
one  hundred  and  forty-three  years  of  rule  of  the  Dutch  East 
India  Company,  and  from  this  date  British  ascendancy  in  South 
Africa  began.  There  was  a  brief  intermission,  it  is 
true,  some  years  later,  when  the  treaty  of  Amiens 

(1802)  transferred  the 
Colony  to  the  Ba- 
tavian  Republic. 
But  the  breaking 
out  of  war  again 
in  the  following 
year  ruptured  the 
treaty,  and  ex- 
posed the  Cape 
Colony  again  to  the  hazard  of  capture,  which  actually  followed 
early  in  January,  1806,  when  Cape  Town  was  retaken  by  Major 
General  David  Baird.  From  that  time  the  Cape  was  held  con- 
tinuously by  the  strong  arm  until  the  convention  at  London, 
August  13,  1814,  when  all  claims  of  the  Netherlands  to  South 
Africa  were  extinguished  by  cession,  and  Great  Britain  became 
the  heir  of  all  the  Dutch  advances  from  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.1 

1  "South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal.  "  Precis  of  the  Archives  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,"  H.  C.  V.  Leibrandt.  "  South  Africa,"  Augustus  Henry 
Keane.  "Heroes  of  South  African  Discovery,"  N.  D'Anvers  (Henry  Bell). 


: 


CHAPTER  III 


THE     PIONEER   ADVANCE 


HEN  Lord  Charles  Somerset  came  to  the  Cape 
as  the  first  Governor  of  the  Colony  after  the 
cession,  how  slight  and  infirm  was  the  hold  of 
any  civilization  on  the  indurated  barbarism 
of  the  vast  expanse  of  Africa  south  of  the 
equator!  In  the  three  hundred  years  that  had 
passed  since  Vasco  Da  Gama  made  known  the  bounds  of  the 
continent,  the  outer  rim  of  the  traditional  Ophir  land  had  barely 
been  pierced.  From  the  Atlantic  side  the  Portuguese  had  not 
pushed  beyond  a  fringe  of  trading  posts  on  the  Lower  Guinea 
coast,  and  were  clinging  feebly  to  insignificant  stations  along  the 
shores  of  the  Mozambique  channel.  The  Dutch  grip  was  more 
obstinate,  in  spite  of  all  disappointments,  but  the  range  of  their 
advance  was  only  a  few  hundred  miles  from  the  Cape,  and  out- 
side of  Cape  Town  the  population  was  a  mere  sprinkling  on  the 
face  of  the  land.  When  the  British  first  wrested  the  Cape  from 
the  Dutch,  Earl  Macartney,  who  held  the  government  in  1797, 
defined  by  proclamation  the  bounds  of  the  Colony.  It  only  ran 
east  to  the  Great  Fish  River  and  on  the  north  to  the  Zuurberg 
Mountains  and  the  southern  edge  of  Bushman's  land,  trending 
up  to  the  Kamiesberg,  and  thence  along  the  coast  to  Buffels 
River  in  Little  Namaqualand.  The  total  extent  was  roughly 
120,000  square  miles,  merely  the  extreme  tip  of  South  Africa, 
and  the  entire  population,  both  white  and  black,  was  reported 
to  be  less  than  62,000,  or  about  one  person  to  every  two  square 
miles.  This  was  a  petty  fringe  on  the  skirt  of  the  dark  continent. 
Not  only  was  the  Colony  weak  in  numbers,  but  it  was  seem- 
ingly without  any  uplifting  leaven  of  enterprise  and  ambition. 

87 


88         THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

For  generations  the  Dutch  settler  had  been  treading  in  the  foot- 
steps of  his  forefathers  without  any  wish  to  stride  ahead.  What 
they  had  done,  he  would  do  if  he  could.  No  new  way  of  work- 
ing or  living  or  thinking  was  as  good  to  his  mind  as  the  old  way. 
The  pioneer  farmer  and  grazier  had  often  been  constrained  to 
pack  all  his  goods  on  the  backs  of  oxen  or  in  a  wagon  with  his 
wife  and  children.  A  little  hut  of  "  wattle  and  daub  "  sheltered 
the  family.  Rude  frames  of  wood  overlaid  with  raw  hide  strips 
were  their  bedsteads,  and  sheepskins,  their  bedclothes.  They 
cooked  their  food  on  the  coals  of  wood-fires  or  boiled  it  in  an 
iron  pot.  They  cut  their  meat  with  clasp  knives  and  drank 
from  tin  cups.  A  big  chest  served  them  for  a  table.  Their 
house  floor  was  the  bare  earth,  unless  a  strip  was  covered  with 
a  wild  beast's  skin.  Their  children  were  brought  up  from  their 
birth  in  this  habit  of  life  and  the  lack  of  comforts  was  not  to 
them  a  privation.  Their  standard  of  living  was  scarcely  higher 
than  that  of  the  imported  Guinea  slaves  who  worked  for  them,  or 
of  the  native  tribes  that  surrounded  them.  Their  isolation  from 
civilized  society  and  their  life  in  the  wilderness  in  familiar  con- 
tact with  slaves  and  savages  was  inevitably  degrading.  When  the 
English  took  the  Colony,  there  was  not  a  bookstore  or  a  single 
good  school  in  it,  and  outside  of  Cape  Town  almost  the  only 
tutors  were  soldiers  who  were  allowed  to  live  with  the  farmers.1 
Still  there  was  one  sustaining  and  universal  spirit  which  kept 
even  the  rudest  grazier  from  sinking  to  the  barbaric  level.  They 
clung  to  the  God  of  Israel  and  to  the  Bible  as  God's  revelation. 
They  never  wearied  of  searching  the  Scriptures,  and  they  prayed 
with  the  fervor  and  faith  of  the  old  Covenanters.  Their  creed 
was  the  strait  and  narrow  way  of  Calvinism  and  the  synod  of 
Dordrecht,  and  they  turned  to  the  Old  Testament  as  confidingly 
as  to  the  New  for  guidance.  They  recognized  the  holding  of 
slaves  as  a  practice  permitted  to  Israel,  and  they  made  bond  ser- 
vants of  the  Hottentots  in  their  apprenticeship  contracts.  In 
their  eyes  the  Bushmen  were  Ishmaelites  and  the  Kafirs  Philis- 

1  "South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal.      "Handbook  to  South  Africa," 
S.  W.  Silver  &  Co. 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE  89 

tines,  who  were  cumbering  the  ground  that  might  be  occupied  by 
God's  favored  people.1  But  the  settlers  were  phlegmatic  and 
peaceful  by  nature,  content  with  their  bare  living,  and  with  no 
ardor  for  extending  their  bounds  by  conquest.  An  extraordinary 
impulse  was  needed  to  convert  them  into  adventurers  and  wan- 
derers in  the  desert. 

This  impulse  was  given  by  the  capture  of  the  Cape,  the  influx 
of  jostling  immigrants  from  Great  Britain,  new  and  vexing  legis- 
lation, and  disasters  to  crops  which  exalted  the  comparative  value 
of  pasturage  lands.2  At  the  opening  of  the  administration  of 
Lord  Charles  Somerset  there  was  a  marked  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  Home  Government  to  promote  the  growth  of  the  Colony.  A 
regular  mail  packet  service  was  established  between  England  and 
the  Cape,  and  ^50,000  were  voted  by  Parliament  in  1819  to  be 
disbursed  in  aid  of  emigration  to  South  Africa.  This  contribution 
was  a  powerful  stimulus,  and  it  is  estimated  that  nearly  5,000 
new  settlers  of  British  birth  were  added  to  the  population  of 
Cape  Colony  from  March,  1820,  to  May,  1821. 

Unfortunately  the  South  African  climate  in  1820  and  the 
years  immediately  following  was  peculiarly  aggravating.  In  1819 
there  had  been  a  heavy  wheat  crop  and  the  consequent  tempta- 
tion to  farmers  to  extend  their  wheat  growing.  So  they  did,  but 
the  crop  of  1820  throughout  South  Africa  was  fatally  blighted. 
The  next  year's  crop  fared  no  better,  and  thousands  of  farmers 
were  ruined  and  brought  even  to  the  verge  of  starvation.  Rations 
were  distributed  by  the  Colonial  Government  in  the  fall  of  1821 
to  those  who  had  no  means  to  buy  food,  but  the  unrelieved 
suffering  was  widespread.  Following  hard  on  this  scourge  of 
blight  came  the  prodigious  floods  of  October,  1823,  when  it 
seemed  to  the  colonists  in  the  eastern  districts  as  if  the  heavens 
were  open  for  another  deluge.  Rain  fell  in  torrents  for  days 
without  ceasing,  and  overflowing  rivers  ran  foaming  to  the  sea, 
carrying  millions  of  tons  of  earth  in  their  turbid  floods  as  well  as 
the  shattered  houses  of  settlers  who  had  barely  time  to  fly  for 

1  "Impressions  of  South  Africa,"  James  Bryce.      "South  Africa,"  Theal. 

2  "Annals  of  Natal,"  John  Bird,  p.  505. 


90        THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

their  lives.  These  staggering  rebuffs  in  the  face  of  the  new  emi- 
grants were  greatly  demoralizing.  Some  fled  from  the  Cape  in 
despair,  and  many  more  wrote  home  to  their  friends  that  the  Col- 
ony was  hung  between  flood  and  famine,  and  that  the  greater  part 
of  South  Africa  was  a  dismal  Karooland.  Still  there  was  a  notably 
plucky  rally  and  an  immediate  turning  to  other  resources  when 
wheat  cultivation  was  shown  to  be  an  uncertain  reliance.  Cattle 
and  sheep  breeding  was  largely  extended  at  once,  and  in  1828 
hides  and  skins  ranked  only  second  to  wine  in  the  list  of 
exports.1 

The  failures  in  wheat  growing  and  the  resort  to  pasture  land 
were  strongly  moving  influences  urging  on  the  advance  of  pio- 
neer settlers  from  the  southern  river  valleys  north  and  east  over 
the  veld  into  unclaimed  territory.  This  natural  flow  of  migra- 
tion was  greatly  swelled  and  impelled  by  the  clashing  of  the  old 
settlers  with  the  newcomers  from  Great  Britain,  and  by  their 
resentment  of  British  control  and  administration  measures.  By 
the  census  of  1819  the  white  population  of  the  colony  was 
42,217,  and  outside  of  Cape  Town  this  people  was  almost 
wholly  of  Dutch  descent  or  of  the  fused  Dutch  and  Huguenot 
strains.  It  was  inevitable  that  a  stock  of  such  breeding  and  tra- 
dition should  be  impatient  of  any  ordinances  or  ways  except  its 
own.  It  was  peculiarly  irksome  to  bow  to  a  nation  which  had 
captured  the  Cape  by  the  strong  arm,  and  was  only  represented 
by  a  small  minority  of  the  settlers.  The  inevitable  heart-burn- 
ing was  aggravated  by  the  contact  and  rivalries  of  the  new  and 
old  settlers.  Neither  faction  had  the  knowledge  or  temper  to 
recognize  the  best  traits  in  the  other  and  show  tolerance  for  dis- 
similar habits  and  prejudices.  The  Dutch  boer  has  an  old 
Anglo-Saxon  root  and  is  simply  correspondent  to  the  German 
bauer,  a  farmer  or  countryman ;  but  in  the  English  mouth  all 
the  Dutch  colonists  were  lumped  as  Boers,  and  in  the  English 
eye  Boer  was  too  often  confounded  with  the  clownish  boor. 
The  Boers  faced  this  contempt  with  a  glowing  resentment  that 
burned  like  a  slow-match. 

1  «  South  Africa,"  Theal. 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE  91 

In  the  new  measures  of  government  there  was  a  succession 
of  vexations  also  to  colonists  attached  to  the  old  customs  and 
ordinances.  The  expense  of  the  new  colonial  establishment  was 
a  grievance.  The  adjustment  of  the  currency  aroused  bitter 
complaint.  The  substitution  of  English  for  Dutch  in  official 
papers,  and  the  abolition  of  the  old  Dutch  courts,  were  heavy 
humiliations.  But  the  keenest  resentment  was  excited  by  the 
measures  designed  for  the  protection  of  Hottentot  bond  servants 
and  free  natives,  and  the  emancipation  act  of  1833.  There  had 
been  a  rapid  increase  in  the  importation  of  slaves  from  Guinea 
after  the  first  conquest  of  the  Colony  by  the  British,  but  in  1807 
the  last  cargo  of  slaves  was  landed  at  Cape  Town,  and  the  slave 
trade  was  formally  brought  to  an  end  by  law  in  the  following  year. 
Still  the  colonists  continued  to  hold  and  breed  slaves  as  their 
fathers  had  done,  and  there  were  35,745  slaves  in  the  Colony 
when  the  emancipation  act  went  into  effect  on  the  first  of  Decem- 
ber, 1834.  These  slaves  were  valued  at  _£3 ,000,000,  but  only 
,£1,200,000  were  appropriated  as  compensation  to  their  owners. 
The  loss  fell  heavily  on  many  owners  already  sinking  under  the 
weight  of  mortgages,  and  there  were  rumblings  and  outpourings 
of  bitter  indignation.  The  deficiency  in  compensation  was  called 
Imperial  confiscation,  and  the  Boers  resented  it  sorely,  not  merely 
on  the  score  of  the  loss  measured  in  money,  but  as  a  crowning 
instance  of  their  political  subjection.1  Alien  Imperial  rule  was 
the  deep-seated  grievance  which  was  the  underlying  and  impel- 
ling cause  of  the  extraordinary  exodus  from  Cape  Colony  called 
the  Great  Trek.2 

In  1835  Louis  Triechard  led  out  the  first  pioneer  company 
of  this  migration,  and  his  advance  into  the  wilderness  beyond  the 
bounds  of  the  Colony  was  followed  by  a  succession  of  slow-mov- 
ing caravans  pushing  northeast  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Orange 
River  and  the  terraces  of  Natal,  and  moving  on,  in  course  of 
years,  across  the  Vaal  to  the  Limpopo  water-shed.  This  out- 
push  of  pioneers  in  large  parties,  overcoming  all  barriers  of 

1  "  Annals  of  Natal."  "  South  Africa,"  Theal.  "  The  Great  Trek,"  Henry 
Cloete,  her  Majesty's  High  Commissioner  for  the  Colony  of  Natal.  2  Ibid. 


92         THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

mountains  and  deserts,  and  fearlessly  venturing  into  the  strong- 
holds of  the  fiercest  native  tribes,  undoubtedly  hastened  and 
secured  the  acquirement  of  the  marvellous  diamond  and  gold 
fields  of  South  Africa.  The  march  of  the  caravans  and  the 
winning  of  the  land  was  a  drama  full  of  barbaric  color  and 
movement. 

At  the  time  when  the  Cape  first  fell  into  the  hands  of  Great 
Britain,  there  was  an  insignificant  tribe,  the  Amazulu,  living  in 

kraals  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  Unvolosi,  which 
flows  into  the  Indian 
Ocean  at  St.  Lucia  Bay. 
In  their  name  there  was 
an  arrogance  of  high  de- 
scent, for  its  meaning  is 
"  the  people  of  the  sky  "; 
but  the  Amazulu  had  then 
nothing  else  to  brag  of, 
and  while  their  head  chief, 
Senzanzakona,  lived,  there 
was  no  terror  in  the  Zulu 
name.  But  there  was  a 
son  born  to  Senzanzakona 
in  or  near  the  year  1783  1 
who  made  the  Amazulus 
masters  of  a  region  far 

Zulu  Chief  Cetawayo  and  Part  of  his  Family.  , .  .  .          r 

exceeding  any  bounds  of 

the  Kalangu  Monomotapa,  and  stamped  his  name  across  it  in 
indelible  blood.2 

The  boy  was  called  Tshaka  or  Chaka,  which,  in  the  Sechuana 
tongue,  is  "  battle  axe."  There  is  another  tracing  of  his  name 
to  Cheka,  a  wasting  disease  afflicting  his  mother.  In  either 
translation  the  name  was  ominous.  But  this  chief's  son  had  no 
deformity  that  an  eye  could  see.  When  he  came  to  manhood, 
a  sculptor  would  have  picked  him  as  a  model  of  his  tall,  athletic 
1  "South  Africa,"  Theal.  "Annals  of  Natal."  2  Ibid. 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE 


93 


race.      He  was  more  than  six  feet  in  height,  and  every  inch  was 

pulsing  with  vigor.     No    rival    could  leap  as  high  or  hurl  an 

assagai   as  far.     In   later   life   his 

shapely  features  were  swollen  with 

ugly  passions  and  debauch,  and 

his  lithe  body  was  overlaid  with 

fat,  but  he  never  lost  the  beauty  of 

his  deep-set,  brilliant  black  eyes, 

fringed    with    their   long,   curved 

eyelashes. 

For  some  cause  Chaka,  while 
only  a  lad,  was  forced  to  fly  for 
refuge  to  Dingiswayo,  chief  of  the 
Abatetwa,  the  master  tribe  of 
the  district.  Under  protection 
of  this  chief  he  was  made  a  sol- 
dier, and  took  by  craft  the  head- 
ship of  his  own  Zulu  tribe  when 
his  father  died.  Then  he  was  Zulu  Prince' Dinizulu' 

able  to  betray  and  put  to  death  his  protector  Dingiswayo,  and 

spread   his   mastery  by  force  or 
,~t    terror     over     the     surrounding 

'  '  *  ''.''-'-'  ..  A  I  '  I 

'/  tribes.  As  he  grew  in  power  he 
showed  an  unfolding  genius  for 
war  and  command.  He  pressed 
every  young  and  strong  man 
within  reach  into  his  army.  He 
marshalled  his  men  in  impis  or 
regiments.  He  discarded  the  old 
bunch  of  assagais  and  armed  each 
man  with  a  single,  short-handled, 
long-bladed  unkonto  or  spear, 
and  protected  him  with  a  shield 
of  oxhide.  He  aimed  with  his 
weapon  to  make  every  fight  hand  to  hand,  where  every  man 
must  kill  or  be  killed.  If  a  soldier  lost  his  spear  he  was 


Zulu  Family. 


94        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

doomed  to  die,  unless  he  could  show  another  in  place  of  it,  torn 
from  an  enemy. 

No  barbaric  figure  was  ever  more  terrific  and  martial  than 
the  Zulu  soldier  in  war-dress.  Chaka's  hair  was  cut  close, 
except  on  the  top  of  his  head  where  the  thick,  crisp  locks  were 
matted  or  moulded  into  a  ring  made  of  a  tree  gum  and  polished 
to  the  likeness  of  ebony.  Thick  folds  of  otter  pelt  were  wound 
round  his  head  and  great  earrings  of  carved  sugar-cane  hung 
from  the  cut  lobes  of  his  ears,  which  were  covered  with  pads  of 


A  Zulu  and  his  Ten  Wives. 

jackal's  skin.  From  this  turban  projected  two  feet  or  more  a 
jet-black  crane  feather,  waving  with  every  toss  of  his  head.  A 
circlet  of  twisted  monkey  and  genet  skins  hung  over  his  breast 
and  back,  and  from  his  waist  a  thick  flexible  kilt  of  twisted  skins 
hung  to  his  knees.  Bands  of  short-cut  white  oxtails  circled  his 
legs  and  arms,  and  the  ruffles  round  his  ankles  made  his  bound- 
ing feet  oddly  like  the  winged  Mercury.  In  his  right  hand  he 
grasped  his  spear  and  swung  at  his  left  side  his  oval  shield  of 
white  oxhide.  Now  pin  with  thorns  a  dozen  bunches  of  the 
red  feathers  of  the  louri  in  the  crisp  tufts  of  his  crown  and  scat- 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE 


95 


Zulu  Kraal  and  Huts. 

ter  some  other  brilliant  feathers  on  a  circlet  above  his  breast, 
and  see  Chaka  dressed  for  parade.1 

Then  fancy  the  marshalling  of  an  army  of  men  like  him,  for 
the  chieftain  in  arms  was  one  of  ten  thousand.  When  the  lead- 
ing division  marched  on  in  review,  every  man  was  more  or  less 
closely  the  image  of  Chaka.  These  picked  men  were  his  Unbala- 
bale  or  Invincibles,  scarred  veterans  who  had  never  been  beaten. 
They  bore  white  shields  marked,  like  their  chief's,  with  a  black 
spot,  and  behind  them  followed  in  grade  of  honor  divisions  with 
red-spotted  shields,  gray  shields,  and  black  shields.  Only  the 
Invincibles  had  kilts  of  skins,  the  others  wearing  instead  a  trap- 
ping of  oxtails.  As  these  fierce  troops  marched  on  before 
Chaka's  keen  eye,  the  men  of  chief  mark  would  bound  from  the 
ranks  and  show  a  marvel  of  vaulting,  darting  to  and  fro,  whirl- 
ing of  spears  and  mimicry  of  fight,  in  which  few  athletes  could 
compare  with  the  supple  Zulu. 

In  formation  for  battle  Chaka  curved  the  van  of  his  impis 

1  "Annals  of  Natal,"  pp.  90—100. 


96        THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

like  a  crescent.  He  called  the  end  his  horns  and  the  centre  his 
breast.  This  was  the  old  array  of  the  warring  Bantu  tribes,  but 
Chaka  greatly  strengthened  it  by  a  formation  behind  in  an 
oblong  block  of  men  held  in  reserve  to  repel  any  break  in  the 
crescent  or  reenforce  it  when  wavering.  His  force  of  disciplined 
soldiers  ranged  up  to  fifty  thousand  strong. 


Zulu  Hut  in  course  of  Construction. 

With  this  prodigious  engine  of  war  shaped  to  his  hand,  he 
overran  all  the  country  from  Delagoa  Bay  to  the  Unzimvulu 
River  and  far  into  the  interior,  scourging  its  face  mercilessly. 
Some  of  the  terrified  tribes  in  his  way  were  blotted  out  com- 
pletely. "  There  was  a  white  mark  from  the  Tugela  to  Thaba 
N'chu,  and  that  was  our  bones,"  said  an  old  Hlubi  to  Theal,  the 
historian  of  South  Africa.  Sometimes  stragglers  escaped  to  lurk 
in  mountain  recesses.  These  wretched  survivors  of  the  scourge 
were  covered  by  one  new  and  pitiful  name,  Amafengu,  because 
their  first  cry  to  strangers  was  Fenguza,  "  we  want."  Only  one 
tribe  held  Chaka  in  check,  the  warlike  Amaswazi,  which  stub- 
bornly guarded  their  mountain  paths  and  cliffs.  Even  the  fierce 
Amangwane  were  forced  to  fly  before  Chaka's  resistless  impis  ; 
but  they  kept  massed  together,  and  in  their  retreat  drove  off  or 
massacred  most  of  the  tribes  between  the  Orange  and  the  Vaal 
rivers.  Then  the  Amangwane,  still  hot  pressed  by  the  Zulus, 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE 


97 


began  to  rub  against  the  frontiersmen  of  Cape  Colony.  This 
inroad  was  bravely  met  by  a  muster  of  a  thousand  soldiers  and 
Boers  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Somerset,  who  finally  put  the 
Amangwane  to  utter  route  in  a  sharp  battle,  August  27,  1828, 
near  the  banks  of  the  Bashil  River.1 

Chaka  was  a  warrior  capable  of  measuring  the  efficiency  of 
the  white  man's  organization  and  firearms.  When  the  Aman- 
gwane were  thrown  back,  the  Zulu  chief  withdrew  his  own  impis 
without  risking  a  collision  with  the  whites.  A  few  weeks  later 
he  was  murdered  by  two  of  his  half  brothers  and  his  best-trusted 
attendant.  Dingaan,  his  half  brother,  and  one  of  his  assassins, 
grasped  the  headship  of  the  Zulus,  but  his  succession  was  dis- 


Zulu  Woman  grinding  Corn. 

puted  by  the  commander  of  one  of  the  chief  divisions  of  Chaka's 
army,  the  unruly  Matabele.  This  revolting  chief,  Umsilikazi, 
was  the  model  of  a  Zulu  warrior,  tall,  sinewy,  shapely,  and, 
except  in  war  dress,  naked  save  for  a  cord  around  his  waist 
from  which  leopards'  tails  dangled.  A  string  of  little  blue 
beads  was  drawn  about  his  sturdy  neck,  and  three  green  feathers 
of  a  paroquet  were  stuck  in  his  crisp  hair.  His  followers  were 
like  him,  and  the  wild  charge  of  the  legion  of  such  men  armed 
1  "  South  Africa,"  Theal.  »  Annals  of  Natal." 


98 


THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


with  their  keen-bladed  spears  was  a  sight  that  would  try  the 
nerve  of  any  white  soldier.  How  the  rudely  armed  and  undis- 
ciplined Boers  would  face  it  was  soon  to  be  tested. 

Umsilikazi,  revolting  from  Dingaan,  led  his  Matabele  divi- 
sion across  the  desert  to  fall  upon  the  country  north  of  the 
Orange  River  and  west  of  the  Drakensberg,  the  Dragon 
Mountains.  Much  of  this  country  had  been  ravaged  before 
by  the  Amangwane,  and  the  Matabele  spared  nothing  that  had 
escaped  slaughter  and  pillage.  Dingaan  sent  an  army  of  Zulus 
in  1834  to  dislodge  his  rival,  but  the  warriors  of  Umsilikazi 


Zulu  Women. 


beat  back  the  attack.  By  the  Zulu  raids  and  massacres  and 
wars,  the  whole  country  from  the  seaboard  of  Natal  nearly  to 
the  junction  of  the  Orange  and  Vaal  was  desolated,  and  the 
native  tribes  of  the  region  almost  destroyed.  Thus  great  tracts 
of  land  were  opened  to  the  advance  of  the  migrating  Boers,  but 
the  push  of  the  trekking  pioneers  soon  brought  them  in  conflict 
with  Umsilikazi  and  Dingaan. 

Then  the  remarkable  traits  of  this  peculiar  people  stood  out 
in  high  relief.  To  English  immigrants,  jostling  the  old  settlers, 
the  ordinary  Boer  appeared  a  Dutch  clodhopper,  sullen  and  jeal- 
ous, unkempt  in  person  and  dress,  immovably  set  in  his  traditional 
ways,  pig-headed  in  his  obstinate  prejudices,  a  block  to  every 
suggestion  of  progress,  Pharasaical  in  his  prayers,  absurd  in  his 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE 


99 


customs,  and  often  clutching  to  the  last  penny.1     There  were 
some  true  lines  in  this  partial  portraiture,  with  a  natural  warping 


Zulus  smoking  Indian  Hemp. 


of  prejudice  and  lack  of  insight.       In  face  of  the  foreign  intru- 
sion the  Boer  had  something  of  the  instinct  of  the  turtle  and 


Old  Zulu  Women  taking  Kafir  Beer  to  a  Wedding. 

1  "The  Great  Thirst  Land,"  Parker  Gillmore.  "South  Africa,"  George 
McCall  Theal.  "South  Africa;  a  Sketch  Book  of  Men,  Manners,  and  Facts," 
James  Stanley  Little. 


ioo       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


porcupine.  But  in  the  heart  of  the  wilderness,  in  his  venture- 
some trek  over  the  pathless  veld,  and  in  the  traverse  of  moun- 
tains and  deserts,  he  showed  what  scornful  eyes  had  not  seen,  — 
the  self-reliance,  the  fortitude,  and  the  pluck  of  the  true  pioneer. 
He  packed  his  wife  and  children  and  all  his  needful  supplies 
in  a  huge,  low-bodied  wagon  under  an  arched  frame  covered  with 

waterproof  canvas.  To  this  stout 
wagon  sixteen  strong  oxen  were 
yoked  to  the  chain  or  rawhide  rope 
forming  a  trektouw.  Every  ox  was 
a  helpmate.  Every  one  knew  his 
name  and  place  and  resented  a 
change  in  yoking.  The  Boer  and 
his  Hottentot  helpers  spoke  to  them 
all  familiarly,  and  could  cut  at  will 
a  fly  from  the  ear  of  any  one  with 
a  flick  of  their  long-lashed  whip. 
When  these  prairie-schooners  lum- 
bered ofF,  creaking  and  swaying, 
with  a  chorus  of  Dutch  and  native  calls,  the  Boers  and  their 
sons  rode  beside  them  on  ungainly  flea-bitten  horses,  trained  to 
herding  and  hunting,  and  often  possessing  uncommon  bottom 
and  speed. 

The  Boer  was  by  nature  prudent  and  wary.  For  comfort 
and  safeguard  the  advance  of  the  Great  Trek  was  in  companies, 
camping  at  night  on  plain  and  hillside,  with  wagons  ranged  to 
form  a  rough  palisade  and  kraal.  No  morning  or  nightfall  ever 
passed  without  prayers  and  the  reading  or  recital  of  Scripture. 
For  every  step  of  his  way  he  looked  to  his  God  for  guidance, 
and  he  felt  that  the  old  promises  to  the  chosen  people  were 
renewed  to  him.  His  faith  in  the  literal  inspiration  of  the  Bible 
was  unwavering.  He  did  not  doubt  that  the  sun  stood  still  at 
the  call  of  Joshua,  or  wonder  at  the  slaughter  of  Philistines  with 
the  jawbone  of  an  ass.  In  face  of  every  privation  and  the  direst 
peril  he  was  sustained  by  his  certain  reliance  on  the  help  of  One 
who  could  make  a  spring  gush  from  the  desert  rock,  or  deliver 


Zulu  Girls. 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE 


101 


any  heathen  host  into  the  hands  of  a  few  faithful  servants. 
But  with  all  this  reliant  devotion  he  never  forgot  "  to  keep  his 
powder  dry,"  and  used  every  opportunity  to  perfect  his  skill  as 
a  marksman. 

Back  of  his  faith  and  prudence  was  an  unflinching  spirit.  In 
the  uncouth  Boer  smouldered  the  fire  of  an  ancestry  that  charged 
at  Ivry  and  starved  at  Leyden.  Even  the  women  and  children 
were  dauntless  at  the 
pinch  of  need.  With 
her  white  grease-cloth 
wrapped  about  her  face, 
the  Boer's  vrouw  was 
an  uncouth  object,  but 
with  her  eye  on  the 
sight  of  a  rifle  many  a 
fat  old  woman  was  a 
guard  to  be  feared. 

No  impediments 
nor  dangers  stayed  the 
advance  of  these  pio- 
neers. When  a  heavy 
wheel  dropped  into  a 
deep  gully  or  earth- 
crack  or  ant-bear  hole, 
it  was  pried  out  with  un- 
tiring patience.  When 
thunder-storms  changed 
the  red  soil  to  beds  of 
mire  and  the  wheels  were  clogged  masses  of  mud  from  nave  to 
felloe,  the  mud  was  laboriously  scraped  away  and  the  wagons 
tugged  to  firmer  ground.  When  the  violent  wrenches  and  strains 
snapped  trektouws  and  wagon-poles  and  king-bolts  like  pack- 
thread, the  same  inflexible  temper  relinked  the  broken  touws  with 
riems  of  rawhide,  chopped  out  new  wagon-poles,  and  forged  new 
fastenings  with  rude  blacksmith's  art.  No  karoo  was  so  forbid- 
ding and  no  stream  so  swollen  as  to  bar  the  onward  march. 


Native  Laborers  in  War  Dress. 


102      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

The  tired  Boer  snored  serenely  at  night  behind  the  bulwark 
of  his  wagons,  regardless  of  the  wild  beasts  prowling  and  sniff- 
ing outside.  The  giggling  calls  of  the  gray  and  brown  jackals, 
the  doleful  howl  of  the  slinking  hyena,  even  the  deep  breathing 
sough  of  the  lurking  lion,  did  not  open  his  eyes,  and  it  must  be 
a  fiercely  menacing  roar  indeed  that  would  lift  his  head.  His 
only  haunting  dread  was  the  crippling  of  his  march  by  the 
deadly  tsetse  fly  or  the  wasting  diseases  that  made  his  horses 
and  oxen  the  prey  of  the  vulture. 


Trekbok  (Springbok)  Hunting. 

In  the  passage  of  these  pioneers  the  destruction  of  wild  ani- 
mals of  all  kinds  was  enormous,  partly  for  the  sake  of  needful 
food,  and  partly  for  the  skins,  but  much  wantonly  and  waste- 
fully,  for  the  Boer  would  rarely  let  pass  a  living  mark  for  his 
rifle.  Of  lesser  game  there  was  no  attempt  to  keep  tally,  but  by 
a  common  report  thousands  of  lions  were  shot  in  the  march  to 
the  Transvaal.  Any  such  reckoning  must  be  largely  guesswork, 
though  there  is  no  doubt  that  few  beasts  within  range  escaped  with- 
out the  sting  of  a  bullet.  But  a  foe  more  formidable  than  any 
multitude  of  lions  sought  to  bar  the  progress  of  the  Great  Trek. 

The  revolting  Umsilikazi  was  the  first  of  the  great  Zulu 
chiefs  to  try  the  temper  and  the  arms  of  these  pioneers.  One 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE 


103 


of  the  larger  divisions  of  the  Great  Trek,  led  by  Hendrik  Pot- 
gieter  and  Gert  Maritz,  left  the  Cape  Colony  in  August, 
1836,  and  pushed  north  of  the  Caledon  River.1  Some  of  the 
pioneers  in  this  advance  were  cut  off  suddenly  and  killed  by 
Umsilikazi.  Flushed  with  this  bloodshed,  he  made  a  swoop 
with  six  thousand  men  upon  a  part  of  Potgieter's  trek  —  a  com- 
pany of  a  few  score  men,  women,  and  children.  But  the  startled 
Boers  were  now  on  their 
guard.  They  ranged  their 
big,  white-tented  wagons  in  a 
square,  lashing  the  wheels  to- 
gether with  rawhide  riems, 
and  filling  in  the  chinks  in 
their  barricade  with  thorny 
mimosa  bushes.  In  the  cen- 
tre of  this  laager  a  few  wagons 
were  placed  as  a  cover  for  the 
women  and  children. 

Upon  sight  of  the  ad- 
vancing Matabele,  all  knelt 
and  prayed.  Then  some  of 
the  men  rode  out  boldly  to 
meet  the  attack  with  their 
heavy  rifles.  Their  fire  was 
deadly,  killing,  at  times,  two 
or  three  at  a  shot,  when  their 
guns  were  loaded  with  slugs, 
but  the  impis  pressed  on, 
driving  the  Boers  back  to  their  laager  in  a  sullen  retreat,  turning 
to  fire  as  fast  as  they  could  reload.  Within  the  laager  all  was 
made  ready  for  a  defence  to  the  death.  Back  of  every  wagon  a 
little  heap  of  powder  and  bullets  was  put  on  the  ground,  and  the 
women  stood  by  to  hand  spare  guns  and  reload.  It  was  sternly 
ordered  that  there  should  be  no  shrieking  or  crying  by  women 
or  children.  In  silence  the  rush  of  the  Matabele  was  awaited. 

1  The  Caledon  River  divides  Basutoland  from  the  Orange  River  Colony. 


Zulu  in  War  Dress. 


104      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

On  came  the  impis  in  raging  masses  that  dashed  on  every 
side  of  the  laager  like  surf  on  a  reef,  wrenching  at  the  wheels, 
clambering  over  the  canvas,  plunging  through  the  thorns.  The 
heavy  wagons  were  shaken  and  swayed,  but  the  lashed  barricade 
held  fast.  The  grim  Boers  met  the  shock  with  withering 
volleys,  piling  up  the  blacks  in  bloody  heaps  around  the  laager. 
Crouching  behind  the  firing  line,  the  women  moulded  bullets 
and  helped  to  reload. 

The  firing  was  so  deadly  and  the  laager  so  impenetrable  that 
the  surges  massed  against  it  recoiled.  But,  after  a  moment  of 
rallying,on  came  the  billows  of  men,  flinging  their  assagais,  and 
howling  like  madmen  as  they  crashed  against  the  barrier  which 
shielded  the  Boers.  They  stabbed  and  slashed  at  the  canvas 
covers  in  frenzied  efforts  to  cut  their  way  over  the  wagons,  and 
wriggled  through  the  crevices  packed  with  thorn  bushes,  until 
some,  torn,  bloody,  and  gasping,  squirmed  into  the  square,  where 
the  Boer  women  killed  them  with  knives  and  hatchets.  The 
Boers  fired  as  fast  as  they  could  lift  their  rifles,  not  stopping  to 
use  their  ramrods,  but  grabbing  handfuls  of  powder  to  charge 
their  guns,  and  dropping  in  slugs  with  scarcely  any  wadding. 

So  intense  was  the  strain  of  that  hour  that  even  these  men 
of  iron  nerve  were  entranced.  "  Of  that  fight,"  wrote  one, 
"  nothing  remains  in  my  memory  except  shouting  and  tumult 
and  lamentation,  and  a  dense  smoke  that  rose  straight  as  a  plumb 
line  upwards  from  the  ground."1 

Four  times  the  black  impis  charged  and  four  times  their 
onset  was  beaten  back  before  Umsilikazi  drew  off  his  men. 
The  field  around  the  laager  was  a  fearful  sight,  and  the  white 
tops  of  the  barricade  were  slashed  into  strips  and  dripping  with 
blood.  Seventy-two  stabs  were  counted  in  the  cover  of  one 
wagon,  and  eleven  hundred  and  seventy-two  assagais  were  flung 
through  into  the  camp.  But  none  of  the  stout  defenders  were 
killed,  and  all  joined  devoutly  in  a  psalm  of  thanksgiving. 

In  retaliation  for  this  attack  Hendrik  Potgieter  and  Pieter 
Uys  led  a  troop  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  in  a  swift 

1  "Annals  of  Natal,"  p.  375. 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE 


105 


march  and  onslaught  upon  the  main  division  of  Umsilikazi. 
The  attack  was  so  well  timed  and  aimed  that  the  array  of  fierce 
impis  was  shattered  and  their  chief  was  driven  in  flight  to  the 
wilderness  beyond  the  Limpopo.  There,  in  the  present  Mata- 
beleland,  Umsilikazi  brought  together  the  remnants  of  his 
people,  and  ruled  in  awe  of  the  pioneers  until  his  death  in  1870. 

Hard  upon  the  defeat  of 
Umsilikazi  came  the  greater 
clash  with  Dingaan,  when  the 
trekking  Boers  crossed  the  Dra- 
kensberg  or  Dragon  Mountains 
to  the  terraces  of  Natal.  This 
cunning  and  tricky  chief  made 
smooth  professions  of  friendship 
to  the  Boers  at  first.  He  wel- 
comed as  allies  the  company 
headed  by  Pieter  Retief  and  re- 
ceived the  commander  at  his 
kraal.  The  chief's  house  was  a 
spherical  hut  about  twenty  feet 
in  diameter.  Its  floor  was  pol-  zuiu-jim  cameei. 

ished  till  it  shone  like  a  mirror,  and  its  roof  was  supported  by 
twenty-two  pillars  of  wood  completely  covered  with  beads. 
Around  this  house  were  seventeen  hundred  ruder  huts  which 
Dingaan  used  as  barracks  for  his  impis,  and  each  hut  would 
cover  twenty  men. 

After  some  parleying  Dingaan  signed  a  cession  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  present  territory  of  Natal  to  the  Boers.  To  cele- 
brate the  compact  he  invited  Retief  to  visit  him  again  with  his 
companions.  It  was  agreed  as  an  exhibit  of  good  faith  that  no 
arms  should  be  taken  into  the  chiefs  kraal.  So  Retief  and 
some  sixty  other  Boers,  with  forty  Hottentot  attendants,  piled 
their  arms  outside  the  kraal,  and  came  in  before  Dingaan,  who 
was  sitting  in  an  arm-chair  in  front  of  his  hut.  Two  of  his 
impis  were  formed  in  a  circle  about  him.  The  Boers  took  their 
seats  on  the  ground  within  the  circle,  and  cups  of  utywala  or 


io6      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

native  beer  were  offered  them  to  drink.  But  when  they  put 
their  lips  to  the  cup,  Dingaan  cried  out,  "  bulala  amatagati," 
"  kill  the  wizards."  At  this  cry  his  Zulus  fell  on  their  helpless 
guests  in  overwhelming  mass.  A  few  Boers  had  clasp-knives, 
and  the  others  met  the  rush  with  naked  hands,  but  all  were 
overpowered  in  a  moment  and  dragged  over  the  ground  to  a 
hill  near  by,  called  Hloma  Mabuto,  or  the  mustering  of  the 
soldiers.  Here  their  heads  were  crushed  with  knob  kerries, 
and  their  bodies  were  flung  into  heaps.  Retief  was  forced  to  see 
the  horrid  murder  of  all  of  his  companions.  Then  his  heart 
and  liver  were  cut  out  and  taken  to  Dingaan,  and  the  mutilated 
corpse  was  cast  on  the  heap  of  dead.1 

None  of  the  Boers  in  the  trap  escaped,  and  after  the  mas- 
sacre the  Zulus  poured  out  to  raid  the  scattered  camps  of  the 
pioneers.  They  were  finally  beaten  back  at  Bushman's  River, 
after  they  had  killed  many  trekkers  and  carried  off  their  cattle, 
and  the  mounted  Boers  followed  their  retreat  for  days.  But 
the  Zulus  were  quick  to  turn  and  strike  again  like  fierce  hawks, 
and  within  two  months  they  swooped  down  upon  the  English 
settlers  and  native  blacks  of  Natal  and  cut  them  off  almost  to  a 
man. 

The  trekking  Boers  were  hard  pressed.  Pieter  Uys  was 
killed  in  ambuscade,  with  his  son,  a  boy  of  fourteen,  and  a  num- 
ber of  his  men.  When  Uys  was  fatally  wounded,  he  urged  his 
son  to  escape  by  spurring  his  horse,  and  the  boy  rode  on  to 
a  place  of  safety,  but  turned  and  rode  back  deliberately  to  die 
with  his  father.2  Potgieter  drove  back  the  Zulus  after  the  fall 
of  Uys,  but  he  did  not  venture  to  hold  his  ground,  and  with- 
drew across  the  Drakensberg.  Only  a  determined  rally  and 
crushing  blow  could  free  Natal  from  the  hanging  menace  of  the 
impis  that  Chaka  had  trained  for  the  hand  of  Dingaan. 

In  December,  1838,  a  force  of  six  hundred  mounted  Boers 

was  mustered  to  strike  this  blow  under  the  command  of  Andries 

Pretorius.     It  seemed  an  absurdly  weak  force  for  such  an  attack, 

but  the  count  in  numbers  did  not  measure  its  strength.     Every 

1  "Annals  of  Natal,"  pp.  214-218.  2  Ibid.  p.  374. 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE  107 

man  was  a  master  marksman  with  the  heavy  rifle  that  had  so 
often  broken  the  bound  of  the  lion  and  stopped  the  charging 
rhinoceros  when  to  miss  was  death.  In  every  one's  heart  was 
a  flame  of  hate  for  the  ruthless  Zulu.  "  Remember  Retief " 
was  a  mutter  that  ran  from  man  to  man  as  the  troop  rode  on. 
They  longed  for  revenge  as  thirsty  men  crave  water.  They 
advanced,  too,  with  the  spirit  of  the  Israelites  of  old  and  of 
Cromwell's  Ironsides.  They  marched  only  between  matins 
and  evensong.  They  prayed  in  their  saddles  and  lifted  their 
voices  in  psalms.  Surely  the  God  of  their  covenant  had  the 
power  to  confound  any  might  of  the  heathen  and  deliver  their 
enemy  into  their  hands. 

When  they  drew  near  to  the  Zulus,  Pretorius  halted,  and 
with  all  his  men  offered  a  vow  to  the  God  of  their  fathers, 
should  He  grant  them  the  victory,  "to  raise  a  house  in  memory 
of  His  great  name  wherever  it  should  please  Him,  and  note  the 
day  in  a  book  to  make  it  known  to  latest  posterity."  1 

With  this  simple  confidence  in  Divine  protection  there  was 
the  shrewdest  practical  judgment  in  selecting  the  best  possible 
post  to  offset  their  comparative  weakness  in  numbers  and  in- 
trench their  little  force.  Their  laager  was  pitched  at  the  junc- 
tion of  a  broad  river  reach,  called  a  sea-cow  hole,  with  a  deep, 
dry  water-course,  covering  both  flanks.  Here,  on  Sunday,  the 
1 6th  of  December,  1838,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  they 
were  attacked  by  a  force  of  many  thousand  Zulus  and  fought 
for  more  than  five  hours.  Impi  after  impi,  reckless  of  life, 
charged  up  to  the  rifle  front  belching  smoke,  flame,  and  bullets, 
only  to  reel  back  before  the  deadly  hail.  When  even  this  rag- 
ing horde  wavered,  Pretorius  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  picked 
horsemen  circled  about  and  struck  their  rear  with  a  charge  so  fiery 
that  the  Zulus  were  utterly  routed.  The  Boers  drove  the  blacks 
to  the  river,  shooting  and  trampling  them  under  the  feet  of  their 
horses.  "  The  Kafirs  lay  on  the  ground,"  said  one  horseman, 
"  like  pumpkins  in  a  rich  soil  that  has  borne  a  large  crop."  The 
sea-cow  hole  was  packed  so  full  that  "  the  water  looked  like  a 
1  "  Annals  of  Natal,"  pp.  246-249,  448. 


io8       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


pool  of  blood,"  and  the  stream  thenceforward  was  known  as 
Blood  River.1  Three  thousand  six  hundred  Zulus  were  left 
dead  on  the  field,  and  this  decisive  victory  was  gained  without 
the  loss  of  a  single  life  to  the  Boers.  A  few  were  slightly 
wounded,  but  they  thought  nothing  of  their  hurts  in  the  com- 
mon thanksgiving. 

This  signal  triumph  and  salvation  were  humbly  taken  as  the 
answer  of  God  to  their  prayers,  and  the  vow  before  the  battle 

was  faithfully  ful- 
filled, as  the  old 
Dutch  Reformed 
Church  of  Pieter 
Maritzburg,  the 
mother  church 
of  Southeast  Af- 
rica, bears  wit- 
ness. The  flying 
Zulus  were  pur- 
sued and  the 
kraal  of  Dingaan 
captured,  Febru- 
ary jd,  1839, 
where  the  bodies 
of  Retief  and 
his  companions 
were  found  and 
mournfully  buried  in  one  grave.  The  Boers  called  the  place 
Weenan,  the  weeping,  and  so  it  is  known  to  this  day. 

Dingaan  fled  north  and  hid  himself  in  a  concealed  kraal 
which  he  built.  A  Boer  writer  tells  a  story  of  his  capture  and 
death  with  grim  delight.  Many  of  the  tribes  which  had  been 
pressed  in  with  the  Zulus  made  peace  with  the  Boers.  One  of 
the  Swazi  chiefs,  Sapusa,  who  had  bowed  to  the  tyranny  of 
Dingaan,  found  his  late  master's  hiding-place.  "  On  the  first 
day  old  Sapusa  pricked  his  captive  with  sharp  assagais,  not 

1  "Annals  of  Natal,"  pp.  246-249,  448. 


A  Zulu  Laborer  in  War  Attire. 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE  109 

more  than  skin  deep,  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  to  the  top  of  his 
head.  On  the  second  day  he  caused  him  to  be  bitten  by  dogs. 
On  the  third  day  Sapusa  said  to  Dingaan, '  Are  you  still  the  rain- 
maker, greatest  of  men  ?  The  sun  is  rising,  you  shall  not  see 
it  set.'  Then  he  took  assagais  and  bored  Dingaan's  eyes  out, 
and  when  the  sun  set,  Dingaan  died,  for  he  had  had  no  food  or 
water  for  three  days.  Such  was  the  end  of  Dingaan."  l 

So  the  Boers  finally  stayed  the  sweep  of  the  Zulu  scourge 
which  had  laid  waste  a  great  stretch  of  land  north  of  the  Cape 
settlements.  Upon  the  defeat  and  flight  of  Umsilikazi,  the  vic- 
torious commandant,  Hendrik  Potgieter,  proclaimed  that  all  the 
territory  overrun  by  this  chief  was  forfeited  to  the  pioneer 
Boers.  This  claim  covered  the  greater  part  of  the  late  South 
African  Republic,  and  half,  at  least,  of  what  is  now  the  Orange 
River  Colony.  In  this  assertion  there  was  no  recognition  of 
any  sovereignty  of  Great  Britain  or  attachment  to  the  Cape 
Colony.  It  was  the  view  of  the  Boers  that  the  land  which  they 
took  was  theirs  by  right  of  capture  and  forfeit,  and  that  they 
were  independent  adventurers  with  no  ties  of  allegiance.  A 
simple  form  of  republican  government  was  established  for  the 
Boers,  north  of  the  Orange  River,  by  a  general  assembly  of  the 
pioneers  at  Winburg  in  June,  1837,  and  a  few  years  later,  on 
the  land  won  from  Dingaan,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Drakens- 
berg,  the  republic  of  Natalia  was  declared  to  extend  from  the 
Umzimbulu  to  the  Tugela.  Outside  of  these  crudely  organized 
political  associations  there  were  from  sixteen  to  twenty  pioneer 
companies,  headed  by  field  cornets,  which  were  practically  as 
independent  as  the  native  tribes  north  of  the  Drakensberg. 
Neither  of  the  republican  creations  was  recognized  by  Great 
Britain,  and,  in  1842,  Port  Natal  and  the  seaboard  of  the 
republic  were  captured,  though  Andries  Pretorius  repulsed  the 
first  British  attack  at  Congella  with  heavy  loss.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  Natal  was  formally  declared  to  be  a  British  Colony,  and 
several  thousand  British  immigrants  were  brought  in  to  take  the 

1  Of  the  basic  fact  of  the  assassination  of  Dingaan  by  a  Swazi  there  is  no 
question. 


no      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

place  of  the  retiring  Boers  who  recrossed  the  Drakensberg.  In 
1848,  by  proclamation  of  Sir  Harry  Smith,  her  Majesty's  High 
Commissioner  and  Governor  of  Cape  Colony,  all  the  territory 
between  the  Vaal  and  Orange  rivers  and  the  Quathlamba  divi- 
sion of  the  Drakensberg  was  formally  declared  to  be  part  of  the 
British  dominions  under  the  name  of  the  Orange  River  Sover- 
eignty. The  Boers  had  been  spreading  out  towards  the  Vaal  in 
many  trekking  parties  north  of  the  Drakensberg,  and  the  Brit- 
ish supremacy  was  not  recognized  until  it  was  forcibly  asserted 
by  arms  in  the  battle  of  Boomplatz,  July  22,  1848.  Then  part 
of  the  Boers  sullenly  submitted,  but  many,  headed  by  Andries 
Pretorius,  preferred  to  pass  beyond  the  farthest  assertion  of 
English  dominion  by  crossing  the  Vaal  and  entering  the  wilder- 
ness stretching  to  the  Limpopo. 

There  was  then  not  even  a  glimmer  of  anticipation  that  the 
great  stretch  of  veld  and  karoo  between  the  Orange  and  the  Vaal 
contained  by  far  the  richest  diamond  fields  in  the  world.  The 
controlling  ministry  in  Great  Britain  at  the  time  did  not  even 
consider  it  worth  the  cost  of  keeping  and  defending,  and  on 
October  21,  1851,  Earl  Grey  wrote  to  Sir  Harry  Smith  that 
"  its  ultimate  abandonment  should  be  a  settled  point  in  imperial 
policy."  The  territory  beyond  the  Vaal  was  rated  still  more 
cheaply,  and  on  January  17,  1852,  the  local  independence  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Transvaal  was  formally  recognized  by  the 
Sand  River  Convention,  signed  by  two  assistant  commissioners 
for  Sir  Harry  Smith,  and  by  appointed  delegates  for  the  Trans- 
vaal pioneers.  The  state  organization  of  these  settlers  was  first 
christened  Hollandsche  Afrikaansche  Republiek,  but  this  name 
was  changed  to  Zud  Afrikaansche  Republiek  in  September, 
1853.  In  the  preceding  month  of  July,  Andries  Pretorius,  the 
pioneer  leader  who  broke  the  Zulu  power,  died,  but  his  great 
service  was  honorably  recognized  in  the  choice  of  his  eldest  son, 
Marthinus  Wessel  Pretorius,  as  the  first  president  of  the  new 
Republic,  and  in  the  establishment  of  its  capital  of  Pretoria. 

On  March  31,  1852,  Lieutenant  General  George  Cathcart  suc- 
ceeded Sir  Harry  Smith  as  High  Commissioner  and  Governor 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE  m 

of  Cape  Colony.  The  Transvaal  had  been  already  disposed  of 
by  the  Sand  River  Convention,  but,  immediately  after  his  arrival, 
May  13,  1852,  General  Cathcart  issued  a  formal  proclamation 
confirming  this  convention.  It  appeared,  too,  that  it  might  be 
desirable  to  shift  the  charge  of  maintenance  and  local  defence  of 
the  Orange  River  Sovereignty  to  the  shoulders  of  the  pioneer 
settlers.  This  conviction  was  confirmed  by  the  outbreak  of  a 
war  with  the  Basutos,  the  most  powerful  native  tribe  in  this  terri- 
tory, under  a  cunning  chief,  Moshesh.  In  November,  1852,  Gen- 
eral Cathcart  led  a  little  army  of  two  thousand  infantry  and  five 
hundred  cavalry  to  the  Caledon  River,  but  in  the  following  month 
his  expedition  was  beset  by  an  overwhelming  force  of  Basutos 
at  Berea  Mountain,  and  the  battle  was  in  effect  a  repulse  to 
the  British.  After  leaving  a  garrison  at  Bloemfontein,  General 
Cathcart  withdrew  under  cover  of  a  fragile  proclamation  of 
peace,  but  his  report  and  the  accompanying  news  were  so  dis- 
couraging that  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  wrote  to  him  that  "  her 
Majesty's  Government  had  decided  to  withdraw  from  the 
Orange  River  Sovereignty."  In  pursuance  of  this  conclusion 
a  convention  was  signed  February  23,  1854,31  Bloemfontein,  by 
Sir  George  Russell  Clerk,  special  commissioner  representing 
Great  Britain,  and  by  the  delegates  from  districts  in  the  sov- 
ereignty. By  this  convention  the  independence  of  the  settlers 
in  the  sovereignty  was  guaranteed,  and  the  administration  was 
handed  over  to  a  provisional  council,  which  took  charge  until 
the  first  sitting  of  the  Volksraad,  March  28,  1854,  and  the 
declaration  of  a  republic  in  the  following  month  under  the  name 
of  the  Orange  Free  State.  This  independent  state  covered  the 
greater  part  of  the  territory  comprised  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Orange  River  Sovereignty,  excepting  the  large  division  between 
the  Caledon  River  and  the  Quathlamba  Mountains,  reserved 
to  the  Basutos,  and  smaller  reservations  on  the  Vaal  held  by 
the  Griquas. 

Within  the  limits  of  the  whole  district  between  the  Orange 
and  the  Vaal  rivers  there  were  then  not  more  than  fifteen  thou- 
sand whites  scattered  over  a  territory  of  many  thousand  square 


ii2      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

miles.  Except  in  the  Caledon  River  districts  little  of  this  great 
expanse  was  capable  of  supporting  any  clustered  population  or 
even  available  for  agriculture.  The  soil  throughout  was  shallow, 
and  in  the  southern  and  western  sections  the  rainfall  was  ordi- 
narily light.  There  were  a  number  of  widespreading  karoos,  and 
in  the  dry  months  the  greater  part  of  the  veld  was  little  better 
than  the  desert.  The  so-called  farms  were  chiefly  cattle  and  sheep 
pastures,  where  the  yield  of  grass  and  herbage  was  so  varying 
that  several  thousand  acres  were  needed  for  any  fair  assurance  of 


safety  for  a  small  herd.  The  total  number  of  farms  secured  by 
grant  was  only  twelve  hundred  and  sixty-five,  but  they  extended 
over  eleven  million  acres.  Of  the  farm  owners  only  one  hundred 
and  thirty-nine  were  Englishmen,  and  a  number  of  these  were  non- 
residents.1 In  the  abstract  there  was  seemingly  little  attraction  or 
value  to  excite  any  flow  of  immigration  or  to  make  the  province 
a  prize  worth  the  cost  of  defending. 

Not  only  the  prospects  of  the  Orange  Free  State  and  of  its 
neighbor  on  the  other  side  of  the  Vaal  seemed  dull  and  incon- 
siderable to  most  observers,  but  the  condition  of  Natal  and 

i  "  South  Africa,"  Theal. 


THE    PIONEER   ADVANCE  113 

of  Cape  Colony  itself  was  little  more  promising.  In  Great 
Britain  the  whole  dependency  was  so  lightly  esteemed  that  it 
was  determined  in  1849  to  utilize  it  as  a  dumping  ground  for 
convicts,  after  Australia  had  resentfully  thrown  off  this  burden. 
The  convict  ship  Neptune  was  actually  sent  out,  but  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  colonists  was  so  demonstrative  that  no  convicts  were 
landed,  and  the  ship  with  its  load  was  held  for  five  months  in 
Simon's  Bay,  the  present  Naval  Station,  a  little  south  of  Cape 
Town,  until  the  recalling  order  was  received,  February  13,  1850. 
The  colony  had  not  sunk  so  low  as  to  submit  to  this  mark  of 
contempt,  but  it  was  undoubtedly  drooping  in  hopes  and  enter- 
prise, and  the  progress  of  its  industrial  development  was  pain- 
fully slow.  There  had  been  a  pronounced  diversion  from 
agriculture  to  cattle  and  sheep  raising  for  reasons  before  noted, 
and  wool  had  become  the  chief  and  almost  the  only  export  of 
consequence.  Still  the  peculiar  condition  and  vagaries  of  the 
South  African  climate  and  seasons  were  hard  to  provide  for  or 
overcome,  and  there  were  prevalent  diseases  that  attacked  horses, 
cattle,  and  sheep,  and  greatly  checked  the  rise  of  the  pastoral 
industry.  Communication  from  one  part  of  the  colony  to 
another  was  very  slowly  improved.  The  roads  were  few  and 
bad,  and  in  1867  the  only  stretch  of  railway  in  all  South  Africa 
was  a  bare  forty  miles  from  Cape  Town  to  Wellington.  The 
total  annual  export  of  the  Colony  was  a  trifle  over  ^2,000,000 
in  value,  and  there  was  no  diversification  of  industries  and  no 
manufactures  of  any  considerable  extent.1  This  was  the  situation 
when  the  gloom  was  suddenly  dispelled  and  the  whole  face  of 
South  Africa  changed  by  the  discovery  of  the  Diamond  Fields. 

1  "  South  Africa,"  Theal. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    DISCOVERY 

EARLY  two  hundred  years  had  passed  since 
the  memorable  expedition  of  van  der  Stel 
made  known  to  geographers  the  Groote  River, 
which,  a  hundred  years  later,  was  christened 
the  Orange.  Before  Great  Britain  took  the 
Cape,  the  daring  van  Reenen  had  penetrated 
to  Modder  Fontein,  unconsciously  skirting  the  rim  of  a  marvel- 
lous diamond  field.  Since  the  beginning  of  the  century  scores 
of  roving  hunters  had  chased  their  game  over  a  network  of 
devious  tracks,  traversing  every  nook  of  the  land  between  the 
Orange  and  the  Vaal,  and  often  camping  for  days  upon  their 
banks.  Then  the  trekking  pioneer  graziers  and  farmers  plodded 
on  after  the  hunters,  sprinkling  their  huts  and  kraals  over  the 
face  of  the  Orange  Free  State,  but  naturally  squatting  first  on 
the  arable  lands  and  grazing  ground  nearest  the  water-courses. 
So,  in  the  course  of  years,  in  the  passage  of  the  Great  Trek, 
thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children  had  passed  across  the 
Orange  and  Vaal,  and  up  and  down  their  winding  valleys,  and 
hundreds,  at  least,  had  trodden  the  river  shore  sands  of  the 
region  in  which  the  most  precious  of  gems  were  lying. 

On  the  Orange  River,  some  thirty  miles  above  its  junction 
with  the  Vaal,  there  was  the  hamlet  of  Hopetown,  one  of  the 
most  thriving  of  the  little  settlements,  and  a  number  of  farms 
dotted  the  angle  between  the  rivers.  Along  the  line  of  the  Vaal, 
for  some  distance  above  its  entry  into  the  Orange,  there  were 
some  ill-defined  reservations  occupied  by  a  few  weak  native 
tribes,  —  Koranas  and  Griquas,  —  for  whose  instruction  there 

114 


THE   DISCOVERY  115 

were  mission  stations  at  Pniel  and  Hebron.1  For  centuries 
unnumbered  the  aboriginal  tribes  had  been  ignorantly  trampling 
under  foot  gems  of  countless  price,  and  for  years  Dutch  and 
English  hunters,  pioneers,  farmers,  shepherds,  and  missionaries 
trekked  as  heedlessly  over  the  African  diamond  beds. 

After  the  revelation  of  this  fact,  there  arose,  it  is  true,  an 
imposing  tale  of  an  old  mission  map  of  the  Orange  River  region, 
drawn  as  far  back  as  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  across 
whose  worn  and  soiled  face  was  scrawled:  "Here  be  diamonds."'2 
Even  if  this  report  were  true,  there  was  no  evidence  determining 
the  date  of  the  scrawl,  which  might  more  credibly  be  a  crude 
new  record  than  a  vague  old  one.  In  any  event,  it  does  not 
appear  that  there  was  even  a  floating  rumor  of  the  probable 
existence  of  a  South  African  diamond  field  at  the  time  of  the 
actual  discovery  of  the  first  identified  gem. 

There  is  nothing  surprising  in  this  oversight.  When  a 
spectator  beholds  a  great  semicircle  of  artfully  cut  gems  spar- 
kling on  the  heads,  necks,  and  hands  of  fair  women  massed  in 
superb  array,  and  resplendent  in  the  brilliant  lights  of  an  opera 
house,  or  when  one  views  the  moving  throng  glittering  with 
jewels  in  grand  court  assemblies,  it  is  hard  for  him  to  realize 
how  inconspicuous  a  tiny  isolated  crystal  may  be  in  the  richest 
of  earth  beds.  No  spot  in  a  diamond  field  has  the  faintest 
resemblance  to  a  jeweller's  show  tray.  Here  is  no  display  of 
gems  blazing  like  a  Mogul's  throne,  or  a  Queen's  tiara,  or  the 
studded  cloak  of  a  Russian  noble.  Only  in  the  marvellous 
valley  of  Sindbad  are  diamonds  strewn  on  the  ground  in  such 
profusion  that  they  are  likely  to  stick  in  the  toes  of  a  barefooted 
traveller,  and  can  be  gathered  by  flinging  carcasses  of  sheep  from 
surrounding  precipices  to  tempt  eagles  to  serve  as  diamond 
winners. 

It  needs  no  strain  of  faith  to  credit  the  old  Persian  tale  of 
the  discontented  AH  Hafed,  roaming  far  and  wide  from  his 

1  "  South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal,  London,  1888,  1891,  1893. 

2  "  South  African  Diamond  Fields  and  Journey   to  Mines,"    William   Jacob 
Morton,   New  York,    1877. 


n6      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

charming  home  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus  in  search  of  dia- 
monds, and,  finally,  beggared  and  starving,  casting  himself  into 
the  river  which  flowed  by  his  house,  while  the  diamonds  of  Gol- 
conda  were  lying  in  his  own  garden  sands.  It  is  probable  that 
the  diamonds  of  India  were  trodden  under  foot  for  thousands  of 
years  before  the  first  precious  stone  of  the  Deccan  was  stuck  in 
an  idol's  eye  or  a  rajah's  turban.  It  is  known  that  the  Brazilian 
diamond  fields  were  washed  for  many  years  by  gold  placer 
diggers  without  any  revelation  of  diamonds  to  the  world, 
although  these  precious  stones  were  often  picked  up  and  so 
familiarly  handled  that  they  were  used  by  the  black  slaves  in  the 
fields  as  counters  in  card  games. 

If  this  be  true  of  the  most  famous  and  prolific  of  all  dia- 
mond fields  before  the  opening  of  the  South  African  placers  and 
mines,  any  delay  in  the  revelation  of  the  field  in  the  heart  of 
South  Africa  may  be  easily  understood.  For  it  was  not  only 
necessary  to  have  eyes  bright  and  keen  enough  to  mark  one  of 
the  few  tiny  precious  crystals  which  were  lying  on  the  face  of 
vast  stretches  of  pebbles,  boulders,  and  sand,  but  the  observer 
must  prize  such  a  crystal  enough  to  stoop  to  pick  it  up  if  it  lay 
plainly  before  his  eyes.  To  the  naked  native  a  rough  diamond 
had  no  more  attraction  than  any  other  pretty  pebble.  There 
were  millions  of  other  white  crystals  and  many  colored  pebbles 
on  the  river  shores  which  were  equally  precious  or  worthless  in 
his  eyes.  The  roving  hunters  were  looking  sharply  for  game 
bounding  over  the  veld,  and  only  glanced  at  a  pebble-strewn 
bank  to  mark  the  possible  track  of  their  prey.  The  stolid  Boer 
pioneers  would  hardly  bend  their  backs  to  pick  up  the  prettiest 
stone  that  ever  lay  on  the  bank  of  an  African  river,  even  if  it 
were  as  big  as  the  great  yellow  diamond  so  jealously  guarded  by 
the  Portuguese  crown.1 

It  might  be  thought  that  some  visitor  to  the  fields  would  be 
more  expert  in  judging  its  character  than  natives,  hunters,  and 
farmers ;  but  there  were  few  trained  mineralogists  in  South 

1  "The  Gold  Regions  of  Southeastern  Africa,"  Thomas  Baines,  F.R.G.S., 
London,  1877. 


THE    DISCOVERY  117 

Africa,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  there  was  one  who  had  ever  examined 
a  diamond  field  personally  or  compared  one  field  with  another. 
Even  with  this  special  experience  an  expert  student  of  general 
mineral  formations  might  survey  this  particular  field  closely  with- 
out suspecting  the  existence  of  diamonds.  This  was  demon- 
strated in  the  visit  of  the  colonial  geologist  Wyley  to  the 
Orange  Free  State  in  1856,  when  he  investigated  the  alleged 
discovery  of  gold  in  thin  veins  of  quartz  lining  the  joints  and 
crevices  of  the  trappean  rocks  at  Smithfield.  In  the  course  of 
his  exploration  he  went  to  Fauresmith,  where  diamonds  were 
afterward  picked  from  the  town  commonage,  and  stood  on  the 
verge  of  the  farm  Jagersfontein,  later  the  seat  of  a  prolific  dia- 
mond mine,  yet  it  does  not  appear  that  he  had  even  a  surmise 
of  the  existence  of  diamonds  in  the  field  of  his  investiga- 
tion.1 It  is  but  fair  to  him  to  observe,  however,  that  the  sec- 
tion which  he  visited  had  no  such  close  resemblance  to  any 
known  typical  field  as  that  which  led  Humboldt  and  Rose  to 
the  revelation  of  the  diamonds  of  the  Ural  from  the  similarity 
of  the  ground  formations  to  those  of  the  Brazilian  diamond 
districts. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  nobody  who  entered  the  Vaal  river  region 
conceived  it  to  be  a  possible  diamond  field  or  thought  of  search- 
ing for  any  precious  stones.  Probably,  too,  there  was  not  a 
person  in  the  Orange  Free  State,  and  few  in  the  Cape  Colony, 
who  was  able  to  distinguish  a  rough  diamond  if  he  found  one  by 
chance,  or  would  be  likely  to  prize  such  a  crystal.  For  the  dis- 
covery of  diamonds  under  such  conditions  it  was  practically 
necessary  that  a  number  of  prospectors  should  enter  it  who 
would  search  the  gravel  beds  often  and  eagerly  for  the  prettiest 
pebbles.  Were  any  such  collectors  at  work  in  the  field  ? 

One  of  the  trekking  Boers,  Daniel  Jacobs,  had  made  his 
home  on  the  banks  of  the  Orange  River  near  the  little  settle- 
ment of  Hopetown.  He  was  one  of  the  sprinkling  of  little 
farmers  who  was  stolidly  content  with  a  bare  and  precarious  liv- 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  by  the  late  John  Noble,  Clerk  of  the  House  of 
Assembly,  Cape  Town. 


u8       THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

ing  on  the  uncertain  pasture  lands  of  the  veld.  Here  his  chil- 
dren grew  up  about  him  with  little  more  care  than  the  goats  that 
browsed  on  the  kopjes. 

A  poor  farmer's  home  was  a  squalid  hovel.  It  was  roughly 
partitioned  to  form  a  bedroom  and  kitchen,  lighted  by  two  small 
windows  smudged  with  grime.  Dirty  calico  tacked  on  the 
rafters  made  its  ceiling.  Its  bare  earthen  floor  was  smeared 
weekly  with  a  polishing  paste  of  cowdung  and  water.  Father, 
mother,  and  children  slept  together  on  a  rude  frame  overlaced 
with  rawhide  strips.  The  only  other  furniture  in  this  stifling 
bedroom  was  a  chest  of  drawers  and  a  small  cracked  mirror. 
There  was  no  washbowl  or  water  pitcher,  but  in  the  morning 
one  after  another  of  the  family  wiped  their  faces  and  swabbed 
their  hands  on  the  same  moistened  cloth.  Then  they  drew  up 
chairs  with  rawhide  seats  to  a  rough  wooden  table  and  ate  corn 
meal  porridge,  and  sometimes  a  hunk  of  tough  mutton  boiled 
with  rice,  and  soaked  their  coarse  unbolted  wheat  flour  bread  in 
a  gritty,  black  coffee  syrup.1 

When  the  sheep  and  goats  were  turned  out  of  the  kraal  to 
graze  on  the  patches  of  grass  and  the  stunted  thorns  of  the  veld, 
the  children  ran  away  after  them  and  roamed  over  the  pasture 
land  all  day  long  like  the  flocks.  There  was  no  daily  round  of 
work  for  them.  The  black  servants  were  the  shepherds  of  the 
flocks,  and  did  the  slovenly  housework,  under  the  indolent  eye 
of  the  Boer  and  his  vrouw,  for  the  poorest  farmer  would  not 
work  with  his  own  hands  except  at  a  pinch.  His  boys  and  girls 
had  never  seen  a  doll  or  a  toy  of  any  kind,  but  the  instinct  of 
childhood  will  find  playthings  on  the  face  of  the  most  barren 
karoo,  and  the  Jacobs  children  were  luckily  close  to  the  edge  of 
a  river  which  was  strewn  with  uncommonly  beautiful  pebbles, 
mixed  with  coarser  gravel. 

Here  were  garnets  with  their  rich  carmine  flush,  the  fainter 
rose  of  the  carnelian,  the  bronze  of  jasper,  the  thick  cream  of 
chalcedony,  heaps  of  agates  of  motley  hues,  and  many  shining 

1  "  Life  with  the  Boers  in  the  Orange  Free  State,"  by  a  resident  English  physi- 
cian's wife,  New  York,  1899. 


THE    DISCOVERY  119 

rock  crystals.1  From  this  party-colored  bed  the  children  picked 
whatever  caught  their  eye  and  fancy,  and  filled  their  pockets  with 
their  chosen  pebbles.  So  a  poor  farmer's  child  found  playthings 
scattered  on  a  river  bank  which  a  little  prince  might  covet,  and 
the  boy  might  have  skimmed  the  face  of  the  river  with  one  litcle 
white  stone  that  was  worth  more  than  his  father's  farm.  Fortu- 
nately for  the  future  of  South  Africa,  he  did  not  play  ducks  and 
drakes  with  this  particular  stone,  which  he  found  one  day  in  the 
early  spring  of  1867,  but  carried  it  home  in  his  pocket  and 
dropped  it  with  a  handful  of  other  pebbles  on  the  farmhouse 
floor.2 

A  heap  of  these  party-colored  stones  was  so  common  a  sight 
in  the  yard  or  on  the  floor  of  a  farmhouse  on  the  banks  of  the 
Orange  and  Vaal,  that  none  of  the  plodding  Boers  gave  it  a 
second  glance.  But  when  the  children  tossed  the  stones  about, 
the  little  white  pebble  was  so  sparkling  in  the  sunlight  that  it 
caught  the  eye  of  the  farmer's  wife.  She  did  not  care  enough 
for  it  to  pick  it  up,  but  spoke  of  it  as  a  curious  stone  to  a  neigh- 
bor, Schalk  van  Niekerk.  Van  Niekerk  asked  to  see  it,  but  it 
was  not  in  the  heap.  One  of  the  children  had  rolled  it  away  in 
the  yard.  After  some  little  search  it  was  found  in  the  dust,  for 
nobody  on  the  farm  would  stoop  for  such  a  trifle. 

When  van  Niekerk  wiped  off"  the  dust,  the  little  stone  glit- 
tered so  prettily  that  he  offered  to  buy  it.  The  good  vrouw 
laughed  at  the  idea  of  selling  a  pebble.  "  You  can  keep  the 
stone,  if  you  want  it,"  she  said.  So  van  Niekerk  put  it  in  his 
pocket  and  carried  it  home.  He  had  only  a  vague  notion  that 
it  might  have  some  value,  and  put  it  in  the  hands  of  a  travelling 
trader,  John  O'Reilly,  who  undertook  to  find  out  what  kind  of 
a  stone  the  little  crystal  was,  and  whether  it  could  be  sold.  He 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings    of  South  Africa,"  Charles  Alfred  Payton,   Lon- 
don, 1872.       "South    Africa    Diamond    Fields,"    Morton,   New    York,     1877. 
"Diamonds  and  Gold  of  South  Africa,"  Henry  Mitchell   of  Kimberley,   London, 
1889. 

2  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870-1871.      "South  Africa,"  Theal,  London, 
1888-1893. 


120      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


showed  the  stone  to  several  Jews  in  Hopetown  and  in  Coles- 
berg,  a  settlement  farther  up  the  Orange  River  Valley.  No 
one  of  these  would  give  a  penny  for  it.  "  It  is  a  pretty  stone 
enough,"  they  said,  "probably  a  topaz,  but  nobody  would  pay 
anything  for  it." 

Perhaps  O'Reilly  would  have  thrown  the  pebble  away,  if  it 
had  not  come  under  the  eye  of  the  acting  Civil  Commissioner 
at  Colesberg,  Mr.  Lorenzo  Boyes.  Mr.  Boyes  found  on  trial 
that  the  stone  would  scratch  glass. 

"  I  believe  it  to  be  a  diamond,"  he  observed  gravely.1 
O'Reilly  was  greatly  cheered  up.     "You  are  the  only  man 

I  have  seen,"  he  said,  "  who 
says  it  is  worth  anything. 
Whatever  it  is  worth  you 
shall  have  a  share  in  it." 

"  Nonsense,"    broke    in 
Dr.  Kirsh,  a  private  apothe- 
cary  of  the  town,  who  was 
present,  "  I'll   bet    Boyes    a 
new  hat  it  is  only  a  topaz." 
"  I'll  take   the  bet,"   re- 
plied Mr.  Boyes,  and  at  his 
suggestion    the     stone     was 
sent  for  determination  to  the 
John  o'Reiiiy.  foremost  mineralogist  of  the 

colony,  Dr.  W.  Guybon  Atherstone,  residing  at  Grahamstown. 
It  was  so  lightly  valued  that  it  was  put  in  an  unsealed  envelope 
and  carried  to  Grahamstown  in  the  regular  post-cart. 

When  the  post-boy  handed  the  letter  to  Dr.  Atherstone, 
the  little  river  stone  fell  out  and  rolled  away.  The  doctor 
picked  it  up  and  read  the  letter  of  transmission.2  Then  he 
examined  the  pebble  expertly  and  wrote  to  Mr.  Boyes :  "  I 
congratulate  you  on  the  stone  you  have  sent  to  me.  It  is  a 

1  Lorenzo  Boyes  (statement  furnished  to  author),  1899. 

2  W.  Guybon  Atherstone  ;  Lorenzo  Boyes,  1899.      "  Among  the  Diamonds," 
1870-1871. 


THE    DISCOVERY 


121 


veritable  diamond,  weighs  twenty-one  and  a  quarter  carats,  and 
is  worth  ^500.  It  has  spoiled  all  the  jewellers'  files  in  Grahams- 
town,  and  where  that  came  from  there 
must  be  lots  more.  Can  I  send  it  to 
Mr.  Southey,  Colonial  Secretary  ?  " 

This  report  was  a  revelation  which 
transformed  the  despised  Karooland  as 
the  grimy  Cinderella  was  transfigured 
by  the  wand  of  her  fairy  godmother. 
The  determination  was  so  positive  and 
the  expertness  of  the  examiner  so  well 
conceded  that  Sir  Philip  Wodehouse, 
the  Governor  at  the  Cape,  bought  the  Mr-  Lorenzo  Boyes- 

rough  diamond  at  once,  at  the  value  fixed  by  Dr.  Atherstone  and 
confirmed  by  the  judgment  of  M.  Henriette,  the  French  consul 
in  Cape  Town.1  The  stone  was  sent  immediately  to  the  Paris 
Exhibition,  where  it  was  viewed  with  much  interest,  but  its  dis- 
covery, at  first,  did  not  cause  any  great  sensation.  The  occa- 
sional finding  of  a  diamond  in  a  bed  of  pebbles  had  been 
reported  before  from  various  parts  of  the  globe,  and  there  was 

no  assurance  in  this  discovery  of  any 
considerable  diamond  deposits. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Boyes  hastened 
to  Hopetown  and  to  van  Niekerlc's 
farm,  to  search  along  the  river  shore 
where  the  first  diamond  was  found. 
He  prodded  the  phlegmatic  farmers 
and  their  black  servants,  raked  over 
many  bushels  of  pebbles  for  two 
weeks,  but  no  second  diamond  repaid 
his  labor.  Still  the  news  of  the  find- 
Dr.  w.  Guybon  Atherstone.  ing  of  the  first  stone  made  the  farmers 

near  the  river  look  more  sharply  at  every  heap  of  pebbles  in  the 
hope  of  finding  one  of  the  precious  "  blink  klippe  "  (bright  stones), 

1  "South  Africa,"  Theal.      Lorenzo  Boyes,  1899.       "Diamonds  and  Gold 
of  South  Africa,"  Theodore  Reunert,    1893. 


122       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

as  the  Boers  named  the  diamond,  and  many  bits  of  shining  rock 
crystal  were  carefully  pocketed,  in  the  persuasion  that  the  glit- 
tering stones  were  diamonds.  But  it  was  ten  months  from  the 
time  of  the  discovery  at  Hopetown  before  a  second  diamond 
was  found,  and  this  was  in  a  spot  more  than  thirty  miles  away, 
on  the  river  bank  below  the  junction  of  the  Vaal  and  Orange 
rivers.  Mr.  Boyes  again  hastened  to  the  place  from  which  the 
diamond  had  been  taken,  but  he  failed  again  to  find  companion 
stones,  though  he  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  diamond  had 
been  washed  down  stream  by  the  overflowing  of  the  Vaal.1 

From  the  Orange  River  the  search  passed  up  the  Vaal,  where 
the  beds  of  pebbles  were  still  more  common  and  beautiful.  The 
eyes  of  the  native  blacks  were  much  quicker  and  keener  in 
such  a  quest  than  those  of  the  stolid  Boer,  who  scarcely  troubled 
himself  to  stoop  for  the  faint  chance  of  a  diamond.  But  no 
steady  or  systematic  search  was  undertaken  by  anybody,  and  it 
was  not  until  the  next  year,  1868,  that  a  few  more  diamonds  were 
picked  up  on  the  banks  of  the  Vaal  by  some  sharp-sighted 
Koranas.2  The  advance  of  discovery  was  so  slow  and  disap- 
pointing that  there  seemed  only  a  faint  prospect  of  the  realization 
of  the  cheering  prediction  of  Dr.  Atherstone,  which  was  scouted 
by  critics  who  were  wholly  incompetent  to  pass  upon  it.  Even 
the  possibility  of  the  existence  of  diamond  deposits  near  the 
junction  of  the  Orange  and  Vaal  was  flatly  denied  by  a  preten- 
tious examiner  who  came  from  England  to  report  on  the  Hope- 
town  field.  It  was  gravely  asserted  that  any  diamonds  in  that 
field  must  have  been  carried  in  the  gizzards  of  ostriches  from 
some  far-distant  region,  and  any  promotion  of  search  in  the 
field  was  a  bubble  scheme. 

To  this  absurd  and  taunting  report  Dr.  Atherstone  replied 
with  marked  force  and  dignity,  presenting  the  facts  indicating 
the  existence  of  diamond-bearing  deposits,  and  adding  :  "  Suf- 
ficient has  been  already  discovered  to  justify  a  thorough  and 
extensive  geological  research  into  this  most  interesting  country, 
and  I  think  for  the  interest  of  science  and  the  benefit  of  the 
1  Lorenzo  Boyes,  1899.  "South  Africa,"  Theal,  London,  1888-1893. 


THE    DISCOVERY  123 

Colony  a  scientific  examination  of  the  country  will  be  under- 
taken. So  far  from  the  geological  character  of  the  country  mak- 
ing it  impossible,  I  maintain  that  it  renders  it  probable  that  very 
extensive  and  rich  diamond  deposits  will  be  discovered  on  proper 
investigation.  This  I  trust  the  Home  Government  will  author- 
ize, as  our  Colonial  exchequer  is  too  poor  to  admit  of  it." 1 

There  was  no  official  response  to  this  well-warranted  sug- 
gestion, for  it  had  hardly  been  penned  when  the  announcement 
of  a  remarkable  discovery  aroused  such  an  excitement  and  such 
a  rush  to  the  field  that  no  government  exploration  was  needed. 
In  March,  1869,  a  superb  white  diamond,  weighing  83.5  carats, 
was  picked  up  by  a  Griqua  shepherd  boy  on  the  farm  Zendfon- 
tein,  near  the  Orange  River.2  Schalk  van  Niekerk  bought  this 
stone  for  a  monstrous  price  in  the  eyes  of  the  poor  shepherd, — 
500  sheep,  10  oxen,  and  a  horse, — but  the  lucky  purchaser  sold 
it  easily  for  ^11,200  to  Lilienfeld  Brothers  of  Hopetown,  and 
it  was  subsequently  purchased  by  Earl  Dudley  for  _^25,ooo.3 
This  extraordinary  gem,  which  soon  became  famous  as  "  the 
Star  of  South  Africa,"  drew  all  eyes  to  a  field  which  could  yield 
such  products,  and  the  existence  and  position  of  diamond  beds 
was  soon  further  assured  and  defined  by  the  finding  of  many 
smaller  stones  in  the  alluvial  gravel  on  the  banks  of  the  Vaal. 

Alluvial  deposits  form  the  surface  ground  on  both  sides  of 
this  river,  stretching  inland  for  several  miles.  In  some  places 
the  turns  of  the  stream  are  frequent  and  abrupt,  and  there  are 
many  dry  water-courses  which  were  probably  old  river  channels. 
The  flooding  and  winding  of  the  river  partly  accounts  for  the 
wide  spreading  of  the  deposits,  but  there  has  been  a  great  abrasion 
of  the  surface  of  the  land,  for  the  water-worn  gravel  sometimes 
covers  even  the  tops  of  the  ridges  and  kopjes  along  the  course 
of  the  river. 

This  gravel  was  a  medley  of  worn  and  rolled  chips  of  basalt, 
sandstone,  quartz,  and  trap,  intermingled  with  agates,  garnets, 

1  W.  Guybon  Atherstone,  1868.       2  "  Among  the  Diamonds,"   1870-1871. 
3  Ibid.     (Accounts  of  this  discovery  differ  somewhat.)      Vide  Theal's  "South 
Africa,"  Reunert's  "  Diamonds  and  Gold,"  etc. 


124      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

peridot,  jasper,  and  other  richly  colored  pebbles,  lying  in  and  on 
a  bedding  of  sand  and  clay.  Below  this  alluvial  soil  was  in  some 
places  a  calcareous  tufa,  but  usually  a  bed  rock  of  melaphyre  or 
a  clayey  shale  varying  in  color.  Scattered  thickly  through  the 
gravel  and  the  clay  along  the  banks  were  heavy  boulders  of 
basalt  and  trap  which  were  greatly  vexing  in  after  days  to  the 
diamond  diggers.1 

For  a  stretch  of  a  hundred  miles  above  the  Mission  Station 
at  Pniel  the  river  flows  through  a  series  of  rocky  ridges,  rolling 
back  from  either  bank  to  a  tract  of  grassy,  undulating  plains. 
Fancy  can  scarcely  picture  rock  heaps  more  contorted  and  mis- 
shapen. Only  prodigious  subterranean  forces  could  have  so 
rent  the  earth's  crust  and  protruded  jagged  dykes  of  metamor- 
phic,  conglomerate,  and  amygdaloid  rocks,  irregularly  traversed 
by  veins  of  quartz,  and  heavily  sprinkled  with  big  bare  boulders 
of  basalt  and  trap.  Here  the  old  lacustrine  sedimentary  forma- 
tion of  the  South  African  high  veld  north  of  the  Zwarte  Bergen 
and  Witte  Bergen  ranges  has  plainly  been  riven  by  volcanic 
upheaval.  The  shale  and  sandstone  of  the  upper  and  lower 
Karoo  beds  have  been  washed  away  down  to  an  igneous  rock 
lying  between  the  shale  and  the  sandstone.  It  was  along  this 
stretch  of  the  river  that  the  first  considerable  deposit  of  diamonds 
in  South  Africa  was  uncovered.2 

For  more  than  a  year  since  the  discovery  of  the  first  diamond 
there  had  been  some  desultory  scratching  of  the  gravel  along  the 
Vaal  by  farmers  and  natives  in  looking  for  "  blink  klippe,"  and 
a  few  little  rough  diamonds  had  been  found  by  the  Hottentots, 
as  before  noted ;  but  the  first  systematic  digging  and  sifting  of 
the  ground  was  begun  by  a  party  of  prospectors  from  Natal  at 
the  Mission  Station  of  Hebron.  This  was  the  forerunner  of  the 

'"Diamonds  and  Gold  of  South  Africa,"  Reunert,  Cape  Town,  1893. 
"The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.  "Among  the 
Diamonds,"  1870-1871. 

2  "  Diamonds  and  Gold  of  South  Africa,"  Reunert,  1893.  "  Among  the 
Diamonds,"  1870-1871.  "South  Africa,"  Theal,  1888-1893.  "On 
Diamonds,"  Sir  William  Crookes,  London,  1897. 


THE    DISCOVERY  125 

second  Great  Trek  to  the  Vaal  from  the  Cape,  a  myriad  of 
adventurers  that  spread  down  the  stream  like  a  locust  swarm, 
amazing  the  natives,  worrying  the  missionaries,  and  agitating  the 
pioneer  republics  on  the  north  and  the  east.1 

The  first  organized  party  of  prospectors  at  Hebron  on  the 
Vaal  was  formed  at  Maritzburg  in  Natal,  at  the  instance  of 
Major  Francis,  an  officer  in  the  English  army  service,  then 
stationed  at  that  town.  Captain  Rolleston  was  the  recog- 
nized leader,  and  after  a  long  plodding  march  over  the  Drakens- 
berg  and  across  the  veld,  the  little  company  reached  the  valley 
of  the  Vaal  in  November,  1869.  Up  to  the  time  of  its  arrival 
there  had  been  no  systematic  washing  of  the  gravel  edging  the 
river.  Two  experienced  gold  diggers  from  Australia,  Glenie 
and  King,  and  a  trader,  Parker,  had  been  attracted  to  the 
field  like  the  Natalians  by  the  reported  discoveries,  and  were 
prospecting  on  the  line  of  the  river  when  Captain  Rolleston's 
party  reached  Hebron.2  Their  prospecting  was  merely  looking 
over  the  surface  gravel  for  a  possible  gem,  but  the  wandering 
Koranas  were  more  sharp-sighted  and  lucky  in  picking  up  the 
elusive  little  crystals  that  occasionally  dotted  the  great  stretches 
of  alluvial  soil. 

It  was  determined  by  Captain  Rolleston  to  explore  the 
ground  as  thoroughly  as  practicable  from  the  river's  edge  for  a 
number  of  yards  up  the  bank,  and  the  washing  began  on  a  tract 
near  the  Mission  Station.  The  Australian  prospectors  joined 
the  party,  and  their  experience  in  placer  mining  was  of  service 
in  conducting  the  search  for  diamonds.  The  workers  shovelled 
the  gravel  into  cradles,  like  those  used  commonly  in  Australian 
and  American  placer  washing,  picked  out  the  coarser  stones  by 
hand,  washed  away  the  sand  and  lighter  pebbles,  and  saved  the 
heavier  mineral  deposit,  hoping  to  find  some  grains  of  gold  as 
well  as  diamonds  above  the  screens  of  their  cradles.  But  the 
returns  for  their  hard  labor  for  many  days  were  greatly  disap- 
pointing. They  washed  out  many  crystals  and  brilliant  pebbles, 

1  "  South  Africa,"  Theal,  1888-1893.  »  Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870- 
1871.  2  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870-1871. 


126      TIIK    DIAMOND    MINKS    OK   SOUTH    AKRICA 

hut  never  a  diamond  nor  an  atom  of  gold  dust.  Then  they 
pushed  down  the  river  more  than  twenty  miles  to  another  camp 
at  Klip-drift,  opposite  the  Mission  Station  at  1'niel.  Here  too 
they  washed  the  ground  for  days  without  finding  even  the  tiniest 
gem,  and  were  almost  on  the  point  ot  abandoning  their  dishearten- 
ing drudgery,  when  finally,  on  the  seventh  of  January,  1870,  the 
first  reward  of  systematic  work  in  the  field  came  in  the  appear- 
ance of  a  small  diamond  in  one  of  the  cradles.1 

This  little  fillip  of  encouragement  determined  their  continu- 
ance of  the  work,  and  a  party  from  British  KarFraria  joined 
them  in  washing  the  gravel  in  places  that  seemed  most  promis- 
ing along  the  line  of  the  river.  It  was  agreed  that  the  first 
discovery  of  rich  diamond-bearing  ground  should  be  shared 
alike  by  both  parties,  but  there  was  nothing  to  share  for 
some  weeks.  Then  some  native  Koranas  were  induced  to 
point  out  to  the  Natalians  a  gravel-coated  hummock  or  kopje 
near  the  Klip-drift  camp,  where  they  had  picked  up  some  small 
diamonds.  When  the  prospectors  began  the  washing  of  the 
gravel  on  this  kopje,  it  was  soon  apparent  that  a  diamond  bed 
of  extraordinary  richness  had  been  reached  at  last.  Good  faith 
was  kept  with  the  company  from  Kingwilliamstown,  and  the 
combined  parties  worked  to  the  top  of  their  strength  in  shovel- 
ling and  washing  the  rich  bed.  The  lucky  men  kept  their 
mouths  closed,  as  a  rule,  and  did  not  intend  to  make  known  their 
good  fortune ;  but  such  a  discovery  could  not  long  be  concealed 
from  visiting  traders  and  roaming  prospectors,  and  before  three 
months  had  passed  some  prying  eye  saw  half  a  tumblerful  of  the 
white  sparkling  crystals  in  their  camp,  and  the  news  spread  fast 
that  the  miners  had  washed  out  from  two  hundred  to  three  hun- 
dred stones,  ranging  in  size  from  the  smallest  gems  to  diamonds 
of  thirty  carats  or  more.3 

Then  a  motley  throng  of  fortune-hunters  began  to  pour  into 

the  valley  of  the   Vaal.     The  first  comers  were  those    living 

nearest  to  the  new  diamond  field,  —  farmers  and  tradesmen  from 

the  cattle  ranges  and   little  towns  of  the  Orange    Free    State. 

1  "  Among  the  Diamonds,"   1870-1871.  *  ItiJ. 


THK    D1SCOVKRY  127 

Some  of  these  were  stolid  Boers,  drawn  to  the  fields  as  a  novel 
and  curious  spectacle,  but  disdaining  the  drudgery  of  shovelling 
and  washing  from  morning  till  night  for  the  chance  of  a  tiny 
bright  stone.  They  stared  for  a  while  at  the  laboring  diamond 
seekers,  and  then  turned  their  backs  on  the  field  contemptuously, 
and  rode  home  sneering  at  the  mania  which  was  dragging  its 
victims  for  hundreds  of  miles,  over  sun-cracked  and  dusty 
karoos,  to  hunt  for  white  pebbles  in  a  river  bed.  Still  there 
were  many  poor  farmers  who  caught  the  infectious  diamond 
fever  at  sight  of  the  open  field  and  a  few  sparkling  stones,  and 
they  camped  at  Klip-drift  or  went  on  farther  up  or  down  the 
river,  to  join,  as  well  as  they  knew  how,  in  the  search  for 
diamonds. 

Following  this  influx  from  the  Free  State  came  swarming 
in  men  of  every  class  and  condition  from  the  southern  English 
Colony,  and  from  the  ships  lying  in  the  coast  ports.  The 
larger  number  were  of  English  descent,  but  many  were  Dutch, 
and  hardly  a  nation  in  Europe  was  unrepresented.  Black 
grandsons  of  Guinea  coast  slaves  and  natives  of  every  dusky 
shade  streaked  the  show  of  white  faces.  Butchers,  bakers, 
sailors,  tailors,  lawyers,  blacksmiths,  masons,  doctors,  carpenters, 
clerks,  gamblers,  sextons,  laborers,  loafers,  —  men  of  every  pur- 
suit and  profession,  jumbled  together  in  queerer  association  than 
the  comrades  in  the  march  to  Finchley,  —  fell  into  line  in  a 
straggling  procession  to  the  Diamond  Fields.  Army  officers 
begged  furloughs  to  join  the  motley  troop,  schoolboys  ran  away 
from  school,  and  women  even  of  good  families  could  not  be  held 
back  from  joining  their  husbands  and  brothers  in  the  long  and 
wearisome  journey  to  the  banks  of  the  Vaal.1 

There  was  the  oddest  medley  of  dress  and  equipment:  shirts 
of  woollen, — blue,  brown,  gray,  and  red, — and  of  linen  and 
cotton,  —  white,  colored,  checked,  and  striped  ;  trim  jackets,  cord 
riding-breeches  and  laced  leggings,  and  "  hand  me  downs  "  from 
the  cheapest  ready-made  clothing  shops ;  the  yellow  oilskins 
and  rubber  boots  of  the  sailor;  the  coarse,  brown  corduroy  and 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"    1870-1871. 


THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

canvas  suits,  and  long-legged,  stiff,  leather  boots  of  the  miner; 
the  ragged,  greasy  hats,  tattered  trousers  or  loin  cloths  of  the 
native  tribesmen  ;  jaunty  cloth  caps,  broad-brimmed  felt,  bat- 
tered straw,  garish  handkerchiefs  twisted  close  to  the  roots  of 
stiff  black  crowns,  or  tufts  of  bright  feathers  stuck  in  a  wiry  mat 
of  curls  ;  such  a  higgledy-piggledy  as  could  only  be  massed  in 
a  rush  from  African  coast  towns  and  native  kraals  to  a  field  of 
unknown  requirements,  in  a  land  whose  climate  swung  daily  be- 
tween a  scorch  and  a  chill,  where  men  in  the  same  hour  were 
smothered  in  dust  and  drenched  in  a  torrent. 

It  is  doubtful  if  a  single  one  of  this  fever-stricken  company 
had  ever  seen  a  diamond  field  or  had  the  slightest  experience 
in  rough  diamond  winning,  but  no  chilling  doubt  of  them- 
selves or  their  luck  restrained  them  from  rushing  to  their 
fancied  Golconda.  Their  ideal  field  was  much  nearer  a  mirror 
of  the  valley  of  Sindbad  than  the  actual  African  river  bank,  and 
it  was  certain  that  many  would  be  as  bitterly  disappointed  by 
the  rugged  stretch  of  gravel  at  Klip-drift  as  the  gay  Portuguese 
cavaliers  were  at  the  sight  of  the  Manica  gold  placers. 

Everything  in  the  form  of  a  carriage  from  a  chaise  to  a  buck- 
wagon  was  pressed  into  service,  but  the  best  available  transport 
was  the  big  trekking  ox-wagon  of  the  Boer  pioneer.  This  was  a 
heavily  framed,  low-hung  wagon,  about  twenty  feet  long  and  five 
and  a  half  feet  broad.  In  this  conveyance  more  than  a  dozen 
men  often  packed  themselves  and  their  camping  outfit  and  food. 
An  exceptionally  well-equipped  party  carried  bacon,  potatoes, 
onions,  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  condensed  milk,  flour,  biscuits,  dried 
peas,  rice,  raisins,  pickles,  and  Cape  brandy.  The  total  weight 
of  load  allowed,  including  the  living  freight,  was  limited  to 
seven  thousand  pounds.1 

East  London,  the  nearest  port,  was  something  more  than 
four  hundred  miles  from  the  diamond  field,  and  Cape  Town 
nearly  seven  hundred.  Natal,  Port  Alfred,  and  Port  Elizabeth 
were  almost  equally  distant,  as  the  crow  flies,  approximately  four 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Charles  Alfred  Payton,  Lon- 
don, 1872. 


THE    DISCOVERY  129 

hundred  and  fifty  miles  ;  but  the  length  of  the  journey  to  the 
Vaal  could  not  be  measured  by  any  bare  comparison  of  air-lined 
distances.  The  roads,  at  best,  were  rough  trampled  tracks, 
changing,  after  a  rainfall,  to  beds  of  mire.  Their  tortuous 
courses  rambled  from  settlement  to  settlement,  or  from  one 
farmhouse  to  another  over  the  veld,  and  were  often  wholly  lost 
in  the  shifting  sands  of  the  karoo.  It  was  a  tedious  and  diffi- 
cult journey  by  land  even  from  one  seacoast  town  to  another, 
and  fifty  miles  from  the  coast  the  traveller  was  fortunate  if  his 
way  was  marked  by  even  a  cattle  path.1 

When  the  rain  fell  in  torrents  with  the  lurid  flashes  and 
nerve-shaking  crash  of  South  African  thunder-storms,  the  dia- 
mond seekers  huddled  together  under  the  stifling  cover  of  their 
wagons,  while  fierce  gusts  shook  and  strained  every  strip  of 
canvas  and  water  drops  spurted  through  every  crevice.  In  fair 
weather  some  were  glad  to  spread  their  blankets  on  the  ground 
near  the  wagon,  and  stretch  their  limbs,  cramped  by  their  pack- 
ing like  sardines  in  a  box.  On  the  plains  they  had  no  fuel  for 
cooking  except  what  they  could  gather  of  dry  bullock's  dung. 
Sometimes  no  headway  could  be  made  against  the  blinding  dust- 
storms,  that  made  even  the  tough  African  cattle  turn  tail  to  the 
blasts,  and  clogged  the  eyes  and  ears  and  every  pore  of  exposed 
skin  with  irritating  grit  and  powder.  Sometimes  the  rain  fell  so 
fast  that  the  river  beds  were  filled  in  a  few  hours  with  muddy 
torrents,  which  blocked  any  passage  by  fording  for  days  and 
even  weeks  at  a  time,  and  kept  the  impatient  diamond  seekers 
fuming  in  vain  on  their  banks.  Payton's  party  was  forty-six 
days  in  its  passage  from  Port  Elizabeth  to  the  Diamond  Fields 
without  meeting  with  any  serious  delays,  and  journeys  lasting 
two  months  were  not  uncommon.2 

Still,  in  spite  of  all  obstacles,  privations,  and  discomforts,  the 
long  journey  to  the  fields  was  not  wholly  monotonous  and  un- 
pleasant. As  there  was  no  beaten  way,  the  prospectors  chose 

1  "South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal,  1888-1893. 

2  "  The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton.       "  South  Africa  Dia- 
mond Fields  and  Journey  to  Mines,"  William  Jacob  Morton,  New  York,  1877. 


130      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

their  own  path,  riding  by  day  and  camping  at  night  as  their 
fancy  led  them.  In  ascending  to  the  tableland  of  the  interior 
from  Natal,  there  were  shifting  and  stirring  visions  of  mountain 
peaks,  terraces,  gorges,  and  valleys. 

On  the  higher  terraces  there  was  not  the  luxuriance  of  the 
coast,  —  the  huge  tree  ferns  with  feathery  fronds,  the  towering 
masses  of  palms,  the  drooping  festoons  of  climbing  vines,  the 
exquisite  flowers  :  spiked  ansellias  with  their  pale  yellow  blos- 
soms, barred  and  spotted  with  red,  pure  white,  sweet-scented 
clusters  of  mystacidium,  and  orchids  of  marvellous  variety  and 
hue,  —  but  even  the  highest  upland  tree  growth  had  beauties  of 
its  own.  On  the  slopes  of  the  Drakensberg  the  wild  chestnut, 
the  Natal  mahogany,  the  white  pear  and  iron  wood  grow  sturdily, 
and  the  common  yellow  wood,  stink  wood,  bogabog,  and  sneeze 
wood  flourish  in  spite  of  their  rude  names.1 

Amid  this  varied  scenery  they  could  linger  and  wind  about 
as  they  pleased,  and  every  turn  of  their  path  revealed  new  charms 
of  line  and  color.  As  they  descended  the  mountain  flanks  some 
marked  how  the  lacustrine  deposits  of  past  ages  had  overspread 
the  face  of  the  land  with  their  covering  of  sandstone  and  shale, 
even  skirting  the  summits  of  the  highest  peaks  at  a  height  of 
more  than  six  thousand  feet,  as  was  plainly  shown  on  the  Com- 
passberg.2  On  the  plateau  below  they  saw  how  the  craggy  hills, 
pointed  spitz-kopjes,  and  columnar  ridges  of  the  trappean  rocks 
projected  above  the  sedimentary  cover  of  the  karoo. 

Throughout  the  Orange  Free  State,  but  especially  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  valleys  of  the  Orange  and  Vaal,  these  vol- 
canic rock  elevations  are  common,  sometimes  massed  in  irregular 
rows  and  often  rising  in  the  most  jagged  and  fantastic  shapes. 
"  When  we  see  them  at  the  surface,"  wrote  the  geologist  Wyley 
in  1856,  "they  look  like  walls  running  across  the  country,  or 
more  frequently  form  a  narrow,  stony  ridge  like  a  wall  that 
has  been  thrown  down.  The  rock  of  which  they  are  composed, 
greenstone  or  basalt,  is  known  by  the  local  name  of  iron  stone, 

1  "The  Colony  of  Natal,"  J.  Forsyth  Ingram. 

2  "Among  the  Diamonds,"   1870-1871. 


THE    DISCOVERY  131 

from  its  great  hardness  and  toughness,  and  from  its  great  weight. 
The  origin  of  these  dykes  is  well  known.  They  have  been  pro- 
duced by  volcanic  agency,  which,  acting  from  below  upon  hori- 
zontal beds  of  stratified  rock,  has  cracked  and  fissured  them  at 
right  angles  to  their  planes  of  stratification,  and  these  vertical 
cracks  have  been  filled  up  with  the  melted  rock  or  the  lava  from 
below.  The  perpendicular  fissures  through  which  it  has  found 
its  way  upwards  are  seldom  seen,  nor  should  we  expect  to  see 
much  of  them,  for  it  is  precisely  along  the  line  of  these  that  the 
rocks  have  been  most  broken  up  and  shattered  and  the  denuda- 
tion has  been  greatest." 

Even  in  the  crossing  of  the  karoos  there  were  curious  and 
awesome  sights  to  attract  and  impress  the  mind  of  a  traveller 
beholding  for  the  first  time  these  desert  wastes  so  widely  spread 
over  the  face  of  South  Africa.  They  differ  little  in  appearance 
except  in  size.  The  Great  or  Central  Karoo,  which  lies  beneath 
the  foot-hills  of  the  Zwarte  Bergen  range,  has  a  sweep  to  the 
north  of  more  than  three  hundred  miles  in  a  rolling  plateau, 
ranging  in  elevation  from  two  to  three  thousand  feet.  Day 
after  day,  as  the  diamond  seekers  from  Cape  Town  plodded  on 
with  their  creaking  wagons,  the  same  purpled  brown  face  was 
outspread  before  them  of  the  stunted  flowering  shrub  which  has 
given  its  name  to  the  desert,  spotted  with  patches  of  sun-cracked 
clay  or  hot  red  sand.  To  some  of  the  Scotchmen  this  scrub  had 
the  cheery  face  of  the  heather  of  their  own  Highlands,  and  home- 
sick Englishmen  would  ramble  far  through  the  furze  to  pick  the 
bright  yellow  flowers  of  plants  that  recalled  the  gorse  of  their 
island  homes.1  These  common  bushes,  rarely  rising  a  foot  in 
height,  and  the  thick,  stunted  camelthorn,  were  almost  the  only 
vegetable  coating  of  the  desert. 

Straggling  over  this  plane  ran  the  quaint  ranges  of  flat- 
topped  hummocks  and  pointed  spitz-kopjes,  streaked  with 
ragged  ravines  torn  by  the  floods,  but  utterly  parched  for  most 
of  the  year.  Shy  meerkats,  Cynictis  penicillata,  weasel-like  crea- 

1  Special  correspondence  London  Chronicle  and  other  English  journals,  Novem- 
ber, 1 899. 


132       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

tures  with  furry  coats,  peered  cautiously  from  their  burrows  at 
the  strange  procession  of  fortune-hunters,  and  from  myriads  of 
the  mammoth  ant-hills  that  dot  the  face  of  the  desert  innumer- 
able legions  of  ants  swarmed  on  the  sand  along  the  track  of  the 
wagons.  Sometimes  at  nightfall  the  queer  aard-vark  lurked 
upon  the  ant-heap  and  licked  up  the  crawling  insects  by  thou- 
sands. Far  over  the  heads  of  the  travellers  soared  the  preda- 
tory eagles  and  swooping  hawks,  harrying  the  pigeons  and  dwarf 
doves  that  clustered  at  daybreak  to  drink  at  the  edge  of  every 
stagnant  pool.1 

Even  in  the  earliest  years  of  the  Dutch  advance  into  South 
Africa,  when  wild  beasts  browsed  in  troops  on  every  grassy  plain 
and  valley  and  the  poorest  marksman  could  kill  game  almost  at 
will,  the  karoo  was  shunned  by  almost  every  living  creature 
except  in  the  fickle  season  of  rainfall.  The  lion  skirted  the 
desert  edge  warily,  unwilling  to  venture  far  from  a  certain  water- 
brook  or  pool.  There  was  nothing  on  the  bare  karoo  to  tempt 
the  rhinoceros  from  his  bed  in  green-leaved  thickets,  and  only 
the  wide-roaming  antelopes  (trekbok)  rambled  for  pasturage  far 
over  the  sparsely  coated  and  parched  desert  waste.  If  this  was 
true  in  the  days  when  the  tip  of  Africa  was  swarming  with  animal 
life,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  diamond  seekers  in  1 869  and  1 870 
rarely  saw  any  living  mark  for  their  rifles  when  they  journeyed 
over  the  desert.  Rock-rabbits,  akin  to  the  scriptural  coney, 
scampering  to  their  holes,  were  often  the  largest  game  in  sight 
for  days  at  a  time,  and  it  was  counted  remarkable  luck  when  any 
hunter  put  a  bullet  through  a  little  brown  antelope,  a  grysbok,  or 
springbok.2  The  springboks  still  haunted  the  Great  Karoo,  for 
they  were  particularly  fond  of  its  stunted  bush  growth,  and  in 
the  rainy  season  many  droves  of  these  antelopes  could  be  seen 
browsing  warily  or  flying  in  panic  from  the  spring  of  the  cheetah, 
the  African  hunting  leopard  ;  but  most  of  the  bigger  game,  bles- 
bok,  haartebeest,  koodoo,  and  wildebeest,  that  used  to  feed 

1  "A  Breath  from  the  Veld,"  John  Guille  Millais,  London,  1895.     "Among 
the  Diamonds,"    1870-1871. 

2  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,   1872. 


THE    DISCOVERY  133 

greedily  on  the  same  pasture,  had  been  killed  or  driven  away  by 
the  keen  hunting  of  the  years  that  followed  the  taking  of  the 
Cape  by  the  English.' 

Sometimes  the  clear  sky  of  the  horizon  was  blurred  by  the 
advancing  of  monstrous  swarms  of  locusts,  the  "  black  snow- 
storms "  of  the  natives,  sweeping  over  the  face  of  the  land  like 
the  scourge  of  devouring  flames,  chased  by  myriads  of  locust 
birds,  and  coating  the  ground  for  miles  around  at  nightfall  with 
a  crawling,  heaving  coverlet.  Then  might  be  heard  the  hoarse 
trump  of  the  cranes  winging  their  way  over  the  desert  and  drop- 
ping on  the  field  strewn  with  locusts  to  gorge  on  their  insect 
prey.  Or  the  travellers  saw  the  slate-white  secretary  bird  stalk- 
ing about  with  his  self-satisfied  strut  and  scraping  up  mouthfuls 
with  his  long  horny  bill. 

More  marvellous  than  the  locust  clouds  were  the  amazing 
mirages  that  deceived  even  the  keen-eyed  ostriches  with  their 
counterfeit  lakes  and  wood-fringed  streams,  so  temptingly  near, 
but  so  provokingly  receding,  like  the  fruits  hanging  over  the 
thirsting  Tantalus.  Sometimes  hilltops  were  reared  high  above 
the  horizon,  distorted  to  mountainous  size  and  melting  suddenly 
in  thin  air  or  a  flying  blur.  Now  a  solitary  horseman  was  seen 
to  swoop  over  the  desert  in  the  form  of  a  mammoth  bird,  or  a 
troop  of  antelopes  were  changed  to  charging  cavalry.  No  trick 
of  illusion  and  transformation  was  beyond  the  conjuring  power 
of  the  flickering  atmosphere  charged  with  the  radiating  heat  of 
the  desert.2 

When  the  prospectors    crossed   the  karoo  and  entered  the 

1  "  A  Breath  from  the  Veld,"  John  Guille  Millais,  London,  1895. 

2  Despatches  of  Julian  Ralph  and  other  special  correspondents  to  London  jour- 
nals, October-December,  1899.      "Sketches  and  Studies  in  South  Africa,"  W.  J. 
K.  Little,  London,  1899.      "  Portraits  of  the  Game  and  Wild  Animals  of  Southern 
Africa,"  W.  G.  Harris,  London,  1840.      "The  Large   Game  and  Natural   His- 
tory  of  South   and   Southeast  Africa,"    W.    H.    Drummond,    Edinburgh,    1875. 
"Travel    and    Adventure   in   Southeast  Africa,"    F.    C.   Selous,   London,    1893. 
"Kloof  and   Karoo,"  H.  A.  Bryden,  London,  1889.       "Days  and   Nights  by 
the  Desert,"  P.  Gillmore,  London,  1888.      "Gun  and  Camera  in  South  Africa," 
H.  A.  Bryden,  London,  1893. 


134      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

stretches  of  pasture  land  which  the  Dutch  called  veld,  the  scenes 
of  their  marches  were  much  more  lively  and  cheery.  Little  farm- 
houses dotted  the  plains  and  valleys,  rude  cottages  of  clay-plas- 
tered stones  or  rough  timbers,  but  hospitable  with  fires  blazing 
on  open  hearths,  big  iron  pots  hanging  from  cranes  and  simmer- 
ing with  stews,  and  broad-faced,  beaming  vrouws  and  clusters  of 
chunky  boys  and  girls  greeted  the  arrival  of  an  ox-wagon  from 
the  coast  as  a  welcome  splash  in  the  stagnant  stream  of  their  daily 
life.1 

At  some  of  the  halting  places  on  the  banks  of  streams,  or 
where  plentiful  water  was  stored  in  natural  pans  or  artificial 
ponds,  the  extraordinary  fertility  of  the  irrigated  soil  of  South 
Africa  was  plainly  to  be  seen  in  luxuriant  gardens,  with  brill- 
iant flower-beds  and  heavy-laden  fruit  trees  and  vines.  Here 
figs,  pomegranates,  oranges,  lemons,  and  grapes  ripened  side  by 
side,  and  hung  more  tempting  than  apples  of  Eden  in  the  sight 
of  the  thirsting,  sunburnt,  dust-choked  men  who  had  plodded 
so  far  over  the  parched  karoos.  They  stretched  their  cramped 
legs  and  aching  backs  in  the  grateful  shade  of  spreading  branches, 
and  watched  with  half-shut  eyes  the  white  flocks  nibbling  on  the 
pasture  land,  and  the  black  and  red  cattle  scattered  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  see  over  the  veld.  Tame  ostriches  stalked  fearlessly 
about  them,  often  clustering  like  hens  at  the  door  of  the  farm- 
house to  pick  up  a  mess  of  grain  or  meal,  apparently  heedless  of 
any  approach,  but  always  alert  and  likely  to  resent  any  familiarity 
from  a  stranger  with  a  kick  as  sharp  and  staggering  as  any  ever 
dealt  by  a  mule's  hind  leg. 

The  interior  of  the  homes  in  these  oases  was.  not  so  invit- 
ing, for  the  rooms,  at  best,  were  small  and  bare  to  the  eye  of 
a  townsman.  But  some  were  comparatively  neatly  kept,  with 
smoothly  cemented  floors,  cupboards  of  quaintly  figured  china 
and  earthenware,  hangings  and  rugs  of  leopard,  fox,  jackal,  and 
antelope  skins  and  brackets  of  curving  horns  loaded  with  hunt- 
ing arms  and  garnished  with  ostrich  feathers.  For  the  guests 

1  "  Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870-1871.  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South 
Africa,"  Payton,  1872.  "South  Africa  Diamond  Fields,"  Morton,  1876. 


THE    DISCOVERY  135 

there  was  probably  the  offer  of  a  freshly  killed  antelope  or  sheep  ; 
but  the  farmer's  family  was  often  content  with  "  biltong,"  the 
dried  meat  that  hung  in  strips  or  was  piled  in  stacks  under  his 
curing  shed. 

Near  every  house  was  the  accompanying  kraal  or  open-walled 
circle  for  the  confinement  of  the  flocks  at  night,  built  of  stones, 
and  usually  so  bedded  and  filthy  with  fresh  dung  that  a  heavy 
percentage  of  the  farmers'  sheep  died  yearly  from  foot-rot  or  scab.1 
Close  to  the  kraal  was  the  water  reservoir  for  the  flocks  and  the 
household  use,  unless  the  farm  lay  on  the  bank  of  an  unfailing 
stream.  These  collections  of  water  were  commonly  hill  drainage, 
stored  in  long,  narrow  ponds  by  rough  dams  across  ravines,  or 
the  drainage  and  rainfall  filling  shallow  natural  basins  which  the 
Boers  call  "pans."  In  the  early  morning  the  birds  flew  from  ail 
quarters  to  these  ponds.  Wild  ducks,  geese,  plover,  sandgrouse, 
and  flocks  of  pigeons  and  doves  hovered  over  the  pools  and 
splashed  and  dabbled  in  the  water,  while  the  blue-gray  Kafir 
cranes  stalked  warily  along  the  brink. 

These  basins  are  quite  numerous  in  the  country  lying 
between  the  Orange  and  the  Vaal,  as  well  as  throughout  the 
Transvaal.  The  light  earth  washed  down  the  hill  slopes  was 
largely  calcareous,  and  incrusted  the  grasses  and  roots  of  the 
basin  in  a  calc-tufa  which  is  almost  impervious  to  water.  So 
the  pans  became  excellent  natural  reservoirs,  though  there  was, 
of  course,  a  heavy  loss  from  evaporation.  No  calamity  is  so 
dreaded  by  the  graziers  as  the  failure  of  their  water-supply,  for 
it  has  often  caused  the  loss  of  a  flock  and  the  ruin  of  the  poor 
owner.  Therefore  the  pans  are  highly  valued  and  strictly  re- 
served, and  the  dams  are  daily  inspected  lest  a  burrowing  land 
crab  should  open  the  way  for  a  rush  of  water  that  would  empty 
the  reservoir.2  When  a  settler  was  fortunate  in  getting  a  tract 
of  land  with  a  pan  or  a  water-spring,  he  almost  invariably  gave 
the  name  to  his  farm,  as  Dutoitspan,  Dorstfontein,  Jagersfontein, 

1  "  On  Veld  and  Farm,"  Frances  MacNab,  London,  1897.       "South  Africa 
Diamond  Fields,"  Morton,  New  York,  1877. 

2  "  Among  the  Diamonds,"   1870-1871. 


136       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Bultfontein,  —  names  of  inconsiderable  little  patches  on  the  face 
of  South  Africa,  which  were  destined  to  become  memorable  by 
approaching  revelations.1 

Attracted  by  the  good  pasturage  and  water  and  the  sight  of 
flowers,  fruits,  and  birds,  even  the  eager  diamond  seekers  were 
not  loath  to  linger  for  a  day  at  one  of  these  oases  and  rest  them- 
selves and  their  cattle  before  pushing  on  to  the  Vaal.  As  they 
drew  near  to  their  goal  the  face  of  the  country  began  to  change. 
After  passing  the  Modder  River,  the  grassy  plains  stretched 
out  wider  and  longer  and  more  gently  undulating,  and  the  mirage 
was  more  greatly  magnifying  and  illusive.  Herds  of  wild  game, 
chiefly  springbok,  blesbok,  hartebeest,  wildebeest,  and  koodoo, 
were  now  frequently  seen,  and  the  ears  of  the  travellers  were 
tickled  with  the  cheery  karack-karack  of  flying  korhaan  and 
the  pipes  of  red-legged  plover.  There  are  black  headed  or  veld 
korhaan  and  bush  korhaan.  These  birds,  which  are  very  plenti- 
ful along  the  Vaal  River  and  about  Kimberley,  belong  to  the 
smaller  bustard  species.  The  cock  bird  of  the  veld  korhaan  has 
a  black  head  with  white  spots  on  the  sides.  The  top  of  the 
head  or  crest  is  of  a  reddish  gray  color.  The  back  is  also  red- 
dish gray,  the  markings  of  the  feathers  being  in  rings  or  stripes. 
The  wings  are  black-and-white,  and  the  legs  yellow.  The  hen 
birds  have  reddish  gray  heads,  but  otherwise  are  similar  in  feather 
to  the  cock  bird.  The  bird  derives  its  name  from  the  Dutch 
word  knor,  to  scold,  and  haan,  hen  or  bird,  on  account  of  the 
scolding  noise  made  by  the  male  bird  as  it  rises  from  the  ground. 
The  original  word,  knorhaan,  has  been  corrupted  into  korhaan. 
The  bush  korhaan  has  a  gray  head  with  a  light  blue  patch  on  the 
crown,  just  back  of  which  is  a  pink-brown  crest  an  inch  and  a 
half  long.  The  back  is  covered  with  brown-and-white  feathers 
with  diamond-pointed  markings.  The  lower  part  of  the  leg  is 
yellow  and  the  upper  part  blue.  The  Dutch  call  one  variety 

1  "  Achtzehn  Jahre  in  Sud  Africa,"  E.  J.  Karrstrom,  Leipzig,  1899.  "  Seven 
Years  in  South  Africa,"  Emil  Holub,  London,  1881.  "South  Africa,"  A.  H. 
Keane,  London,  1895.  "South  Africa  of  To-day,"  Captain  F.  E.  Younghusband, 
London,  1898.  "Ten  Years  in  South  Africa,"  J.  W.  D.  Moodie,  London, 
1835.  "South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal,  1888-1893. 


THE   DISCOVERY  137 

of  birds  somewhat  resembling  the  bush  korhaan  rudely  "  dik- 
kops,"  thick  heads,  from  their  appearance  when  wounded ;  but 
they  are  none  the  less  handsome  birds,  and  they  were  eagerly 
shot  and  eaten  by  the  diamond  seekers  on  the  way  to  the  fields 
and  in  the  camps  on  the  river.  There  were  great  numbers,  too, 
of  the  paauw  or  cape  bustard  near  the  Modder  River,  and  red- 
winged  partridges  and  Guinea  fowl  that  gave  a  welcome  variety 
to  the  meals  of  the  travellers.1 

Over  the  rolling  ground  the  prospectors  pressed  rapidly  to 
the  Diamond  Fields  and  soon  reached  the  river  border  where  the 
plains  ran  into  the  barrier  of  ridges  of  volcanic  rocks.  Jolting 
heavily  over  these  rough  heaps  and  sinking  deeply  in  the  red 
sand  wash  of  the  valleys,  the  heavy  ox-wagons  were  slowly  tugged 
to  the  top  of  the  last  ridge  above  Pniel,  opposite  the  opened 
diamond  beds  of  Klip-drift,  where  the  anticipated  Golconda  was 
full  in  sight.  Here  the  Vaal  River  winds  with  a  gently  flowing 
stream,  two  hundred  yards  or  more  in  width,  through  a  steeply 
shelving,  oblong  basin  something  over  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length 
and  a  mile  across.  A  thin  line  of  willows  and  cotton-woods 
marked  the  edge  of  the  stream  on  both  banks.  On  the  descend- 
ing slope  toward  the  river  stood  the  clustering  tents  and  wagons 
of  the  pilgrims  waiting  to  cross  the  stream. 

In  the  dry  season  the  Vaal  was  easily  fordable  by  ox-wagons 
at  a  point  in  this  basin,  and  the  ford,  which  the  Boers  call 
"  drift,"  gave  the  name  to  the  shore  and  camp  opposite  Pniel, 
—  "Klip-drift,"  "Rocky-ford."  When  the  river  was  swollen 
by  rains,  the  impatient  fortune-hunters  were  forced  to  wait,  fum- 
ing, in  sight  of  the  diamond  diggings  until  the  flood  subsided  ; 
but, a  few  months  after  the  rush  began,  a  big,  flat-bottomed  ferry- 
boat, called  a  punt,  was  constructed  to  carry  over  the  wagons 
and  cattle,  while  the  men  crossed  in  rowboats,  making  regular 
ferry  trips  between  Pniel  and  Klip-drift. 

How  stirring  were  the  sights  and  sounds  from  the  ridge  at 
Pniel  to  every  newcomer  while  the  swarming  diamond  seekers 
were  crossing  the  river  and  spreading  out  over  the  northern 
1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870-1871. 


138      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

bank!  —  the  confused  clustering  at  the  ford  —  the  rambling  of 
stragglers  along  the  shore  —  the  gravel  cracking  and  grinding 
under  the  hoofs  of  the  horses  and  ponies  racing  along  the  bank 
and  rearing,  plunging,  and  bucking  at  the  check  of  the  bits  and 
prick  of  the  spurs  —  the  outspanning  and  inspanning  of  hun- 
dreds of  oxen  —  the  swaying  and  creaking  wagons  —  the  writh- 
ing, darting  lash  of  the  cracking  whips  of  the  drivers  —  the 
sulking,  balking  oxen,  driven  into  long,  straining  lines  that 
dragged  the  ponderous,  canvas-arched  "prairie-schooners" 
through  the  turbid  water  and  over  the  quaking  sands  —  the 
whistling,  shouting,  yelling,  snorting,  neighing,  braying,  squeak- 
ing, grinding,  splashing  babel  —  the  scrambling  up  the  steep 
Klip-drift  bank  —  the  scattering  of  the  newcomers  —  the 
perching  of  the  white-topped  wagons  and  the  camp-tents  like 
monstrous  gulls  on  every  tenable  lodging  place  on  bank,  gully, 
and  hillside  —  the  scurrying  about  for  wood  and  water  —  the 
crackling,  smoking,  flaming  heaps  of  the  camp  fires  —  the 
steaming  pots  and  kettles  swinging  on  cranes  —  the  great  placer 
face,  pockmarked  with  holes  and  heaps  of  reddish  sand,  clay, 
and  gravel  —  the  long  stretches  of  the  miners'  rockers  and 
troughs  at  the  water's  edge  —  and  chief  of  all  in  interest,  the 
busy  workmen,  sinking  pits  and  throwing  out  shovelfuls  of 
earth,  filling  buckets  and  hauling  them  up  with  ropes,  loading 
and  shaking  the  rockers,  driving  carts  full  of  heavy  gravel  to 
the  water  troughs,  returning  for  new  loads,  scraping  and  sorting 
the  fine,  heavy  pebbles  on  tables  or  flat  rocks  or  boards  spread 
on  the  ground ! 

No  labored,  crawling  recital  can  compass  and  picture  in 
print  any  approach  to  the  instant  impress  on  the  eye  and  ear 
of  the  moving  drama  on  the  banks  of  the  Vaal.  Observer  after 
observer  groped  vainly  for  graphic  comparison.  "  Klip-drift  is  a 
swarm  of  bees  whose  hive  is  upset,"  said  one ,  "  a  bank  lined 
with  ant-hills,"  wrote  another,  prosily ;  "  a  wild  rabbit  warren, 
scurried  by  a  fox,"  ventured  a  third ;  "  an  insane  asylum 
turned  loose  on  a  beach,"  sneered  a  fourth.  It  was  a  mush- 
room growth  of  a  seething  placer-mining  camp  in  the  heart 


THE    DISCOVERY 


'39 


of  the  pasture  lands  of  South  Africa.  To  old  Australian  and 
American  miners  it  had  a  patent  likeness  to  familiar  camps  and 
diggings,  but  its  local  coloring  was  glaringly  vivid  and  unique.1 

1  "  Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870—1871.  "  The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South 
Africa,"  Charles  Alfred  Payton,  London,  1872.  "  South  Africa  Diamond  Fields," 
Morton,  New  York,  1877.  "To  the  Cape  for  Diamonds,"  Frederick  Boyle, 
London,  1873.  "Diamond  Fields  of  South  Africa,  by  One  who  has  visited  the 
Fields,"  New  York,  1872. 


Pniel  Diggings. 


CHAPTER   V 


THE    CAMPS    ON    THE    VAAL 

EFORE  calling  to  view  the  spreading  of  the 
diamond  seekers  along  the  line  of  the  Vaal 
River,  the  rearing  of  successive  camps,  and  the 
growing  pursuit  of  gems  in  the  gravel,  it  is 
essential  to  trace  the  progress  of  diamond 
mining  from  its  original  development  on  the 
water-shed  of  the  Indus,  and  to  account  in  great  measure  for 
the  blundering,  confusion,  and  failures  in  the  new  Diamond 
Fields  by  showing  how  crude  and  imperfect  were  any  known 
methods  of  winning  the  precious  stones  at  the  time  of  the  South 
African  discoveries. 

From  earliest  history  there  had  been  no  change  and  no 
prospect  of  change  in  the  diamond  mining  of  India  (described 
in  Chapter  i).  In  the  Deccan  diamond  fields,  as  in  the  other 
congested  districts,  there  was  such  an  influx  of  poor  natives  that 
no  labor-saving  contrivances  were  sought  for,  and  the  diamond- 
bearing  gravels  were  lifted  and  washed  by  hand  as  they  had  been 
by  the  first  generation  of  workers.  There  had  been  no  compe- 
tition with  the  Deccan  field,  and  no  considerable  production 
outside  of  it,  until  the  diamonds  of  the  Brazilian  fields  were 
made  known  to  the  Portuguese  in  the  year  1728.  As  soon  as 
the  Home  Government  learned  of  this  discovery,  the  diamonds 
in  Brazil  were  declared  to  be  State  property,  and  for  a  hundred 
years  diamond  mining  was  a  Crown  monopoly.  This  con- 
dition was  a  clog  to  any  possible  advance  in  the  methods  of 
mining.  There  was  a  constant  drain  on  the  industry  without 
any  effort  to  develop  it  systematically,  thoroughly,  or  economi- 
cally. 

140 


THE   CAMPS   ON   THE   VAAL  141 

The  chief  deposits  were  found,  at  first,  in  river  beds  and 
ravines  in  a  breccia  of  clay,  quartz  pebbles,  and  sand,  charged 
with  oxide  of  iron.  Some  of  the  richest  beds  were  opened  along 
the  rivers  Jequetinhonha  and  Pardo  in  the  valley  of  Sejues,  and 
on  the  line  of  the  rivers  Aboite,  Andaja,  da  Serreno,  da  Prata, 
and  San  Francisco  in  the  province  of  Minas  Geraes.1 

The  diamond-bearing  ground  was  worked  under  govern- 
ment agents  or  leased  to  contractors.  Quick  returns  were  the 
first  object.  So  gangs  of  slaves  were  put  on  the  grounds, 
regardless  of  loss,  if  only  the  cream  of  the  fields  was  skimmed. 
In  the  dry  season  the  beds  of  the  smaller  sierran  streams  were 
nearly  or  wholly  dry.  Underlying  the  surface  wash  of  sand  in 
the  bed  was  the  formacao  or  cascalho,  heavy  diamond-bearing 
gravel  intermixed  with  boulders.  The  alluvial  soil  was  gen- 
erally from  eight  to  twenty  feet  thick,  a  silicious  sand  chiefly, 
deep  colored  by  ferruginous  clay.  The  diamonds  and  other 
minerals  of  high  specific  gravity  were  held  in  the  bottom  layer 
of  this  alluvium,  usually  cemented  in  a  coarse  pudding-stone  of 
quartz  and  itacolumite  —  the  cascalho.  The  sand  was  rudely 
scraped  away  or  carried  off  in  pans,  the  boulders  pried  out,  and 
the  cascalho  exposed.  Then  the  gravel  was  collected  labori- 
ously in  pans  and  piled  in  heaps  to  await  the  rainy  season,  when 
the  streams  filled  the  dry  courses  and  there  was  water  at  hand 
for  washing  the  gravel. 

Bacus  or  shallow  pits  were  sunk  in  the  sand  along  the  brink 
of  the  streams,  and  in  these  pits  a  few  panfuls  of  gravel  were 
thrown.  The  bottom  of  the  bacu  was  made  to  slope  so  that 
the  dashing  of  water  on  the  gravel  heap  would  readily  wash  away 
the  clinging  sand  and  the  lighter  and  larger  stones.  The  expert 
slaves  washed  the  heaps  in  the  bacus  with  splashes  of  water  cast 

1  "The  Diamond  Fields  of  Brazil,"  Report  of  United  States  Minister  Bryan, 
March  i  2,  1 899,  conveying  report  of  American  Secretary  of  Legation,  Dawson. 
"A  Treatise  on  Gems,"  Lewis  Feuchtwanger,  M.D.,  1867.  "An  Account 
of  Diamonds  found  in  Brazil,"  James  Castro  de  Sarmente,  M.D.  "Genuine 
Account  of  the  Present  State  of  the  Diamond  Trade  in  the  Dominions  of  Portugal," 
a  Lisbon  merchant,  London,  1785.  "Travels  in  South  America,"  J.  J.  von 
Tschudi. 


142      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

from  concave  wooden  plates  with  a  peculiar  whirl  which  has- 
tened the  separation  of  the  heavier  gravel.  This  concentrate, 
containing  most  of  the  diamonds  in  the  cascalho,  was  then 
washed  again  in  a  batea,  a  wooden  dish  with  a  depression  in  the 
centre.  By  dexterous  shaking  and  whirling  motions  of  the  batea 
filled  with  water  and  a  few  handfuls  of  gravel,  the  lighter  gravel 


Delports'  Hope,  Vaal  River  Diggings. 

was  carried  to  the  rim  and  washed  or  scraped  away,  and  dia- 
monds mixed  with  heavier  pebbles  were  collected  in  the  hol- 
lowed centre  of  the  dish.  A  gentle  tilt  of  the  batea  drained  off 
the  water,  and  the  precious  stones  were  picked  from  the  other 
pebbles  by  hand. 

Sometimes  the  formacao  was  deposited  in  an  inclined  mov- 
able trough  or  cradle  on  whose  face  fifteen  to  eighteen  pounds 
were  spread  out  at  a  time.  Then  a  carefully  regulated  stream 
of  water  was  allowed  to  run  through  this  deposit  into  a  lower 
trough  and  gutter  while  the  cradle  was  rocked  continually. 
When  the  water  ran  off  clear  from  the  lower  trough,  the  work- 
ing negro  would  pick  out  the  stones  in  the  cradle  with  his  fin- 
gers, until  only  the  finest  pebbles  remained,  which  he  scraped 
over  and  examined  with  the  closest  attention  to  detect  the  pos- 
sible presence  of  diamond  crystals.1 

1  "A  Treatise  on  Gems,"  Feuchtwanger,  1867.  Report  of  United  States 
Minister  to  Brazil,  March,  1 899. 


THE   CAMPS    ON   THE   VAAL 


This  was  a  slow  and  tedious  process,  at  best.  The  percent- 
age of  precious  stones  won  from  the  gravel  necessarily  depended 
on  the  care,  expertness,  and  eyesight  of  the  workers.  Experi- 
ence proved  that  fairly  expert  gold  placer  miners  were  not 
equally  competent  in  handling  diamond-bearing  gravel,  and  slave 
labor  was  not  diligent  or  trustworthy.  The  loss  was  increased 
by  the  greedy  pressure  for  big  and  quick  returns,  and  the  pre- 
mium set  on  the  extraction  of  large  stones. 

When,  in  the  course  of  mining,  streams  were  diverted  from 
their  beds  by  dams  and  sluiceways,  there  was  urgent  need  of 
hurrying,  for  the  frail  dams  could  not  bear  the  rush  of  a  flood 
in  the  rainy  season,  and  it  was  necessary  to  remove  the  gravel 
from  the  stretches  of  river  beds  before  the  heavy  rains  fell. 


_""**--.  _ ,  ^ 

^S  :^x."*-  "  *" 

^S3&^*     *» « 

:r^£b^^fe 


-'*  .;>"•«  'J         Irw*?. 

Diggers'  Camps  on  the  Vaal  River. 

Often  the  formacao  was  buried  under  thirty  feet  or  more  of 
sand,  and  all  this  overlying  mass  had  to  be  scooped  up  and 
carried  off  as  well  as  the  layer  of  gravel.  As  the  slaves  had 
nothing  better  than  pans  for  this  work,  the  beds  were  covered 
with  swarms  of  negroes  bearing  pans  on  their  heads  and  nibbling 
away  at  the  ground  like  ants  in  the  effort  to  reach  the  gravel 
before  the  floods  came.  In  the  reckless  haste  many  tracts  of 


144      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

diamond-bearing  gravel  were  buried  under  ground  too  deep  for 
profitable  working,  or  covered  by  the  waste  of  flooded  rivers. 

As  the  mines  advanced  up  the  hillsides,  following  the  course 
of  the  mountain  streams,  it  was  seen  that  there  were  gupiaras  or 
deposits  of  diamond-bearing  gravel  along  the  steep  slopes  of  the 
ravines,  and  these  were  worked  by  carrying  the  gravel  to  the 
banks  of  streams,  or  by  cutting  sluiceways  to  the  deposits. 
Finally,  on  the  sierran  ridges  and  plateaus  the  conglomerate  beds 
were  reached,  from  which  the  deposits  in  the  river  beds  had 
been  washed  by  the  mountain  streams.  This  conglomerate  was 
chiefly  itacolumite,1  a  micaceous  sandstone,  accompanied  by 
mica-schist  and  penetrated  irregularly  by  quartz  veins.  This 
was  the  prevailing  composite  in  the  Serro  de  San  Antonio,  in 
which  the  Jequetinhonha  rises  in  the  Serro  de  Matta  de  Corda, 
the  fountain  head  of  the  Rio  Francisco.1 

Here  the  diamonds  were  not  as  thickly  sprinkled  as  they 
were  in  the  cascalho  concentrate,  but  the  quantity  was  sufficient 
to  make  extraction  profitable,  if  the  conglomerate  could  be  dis- 
integrated and  washed.  This  was  effected  by  collecting  rain 
water  in  pools  at  points  above  the  conglomerate  and  carrying 
down  the  water  through  ditches  into  gullies  cut  in  the  beds. 
By  the  flow  of  the  water,  the  formacao  was  separated  from  the 
mass  of  rocks  and  sand.  This  device  worked  well,  but  owing 
to  the  scarcity  of  water,  the  washing  could  only  be  continued  for 
a  few  weeks,  at  most,  in  the  course  of  a  year.  In  1832  mining 
in  these  fields  was  opened  to  the  public,  but  the  most  accessible 
and  prolific  beds  had  been  worked,  and  there  was  little  apparent 
encouragement  for  the  investment  of  capital  in  any  large  under- 
taking which  might  have  advanced  the  science  of  diamond 
winning.  It  is  said  that  more  than  half  of  the  diamonds  pro- 
duced in  Brazil  were  stolen  by  the  workmen  and  sold  to  contra- 
band dealers,  by  whom  they  were  secretly  sent  out  of  the  country. 

Outside  of  the  Indian  and  Brazilian  fields  no  considerable 
source  of  supply  had  been  discovered  anywhere.  Some  dia- 
mond-bearing ground  had  been  found  in  Borneo,  which  yielded 
for  many  years  a  dribbling  return,  and  in  1829  the  first-known 


THE    CAMPS    ON   THE   VAAL  145 

diamond  of  Russia  was  discovered  on  the  west  flank  of  the  Ural 
Mountains  by  Humboldt  and  Rose,  in  a  gold  placer  field  near 
the  iron  mines  of  Bissersk.  Here  the  prevailing  rock  forma- 
tion, like  that  in  the  upper  diamond  fields  of  Brazil,  was  itacolu- 
mite,  with  an  admixture  of  mica  and  iron  pyrites.1  The  debris 
washed  into  a  few  valleys  beneath  this  range  yielded  a  meagre 
return  to  the  searchers,  but  there  was  nothing  to  inspire  any 
ardent  working,  and  in  Bohemia,  Australia,  Mexico,  and  the 
United  States,  the  picking  up  of  a  few  isolated  specimens  was 
noted  as  a  curious  occurrence  rather  than  as  the  foundation  of 
any  hope  of  a  productive  diamond  field.2 

So,  at  the  time  of  the  discoveries  of  diamonds  on  the  banks 
of  the  Vaal  River,  there  was  no  known  method  for  the  extraction 
of  diamonds  beyond  the  shovel  of  the  Indian,  the  batea  of  the 
Brazilian,  or  the  cradle  of  the  gold  miner.  There  was  no  antici- 
pation, on  the  part  of  the  diamond  seekers,  of  any  formation  in 
Africa  except  the  diamond-bearing  gravel  of  alluvial  deposits, 
and  the  prospectors  of  the  first  rush  did  not  seek  for  diamonds 
beyond  the  gravel  along  the  banks  of  the  Vaal. 

The  Early  Mining  at  Klip-drift,  now  called  Barkly  West. 

The  first  waves  of  the  influx  from  the  southern  country  and 
coast  towns  were  warmly  greeted  by  the  small  parties  at  work 
on  the  Vaal.  The  diggers  were  squatters,  without  any  legal 
title  to  an  inch  of  the  river  bank,  as  they  very  well  knew.  But 
they  relied  on  actual  possession  without  contest,  for  their  rocky 
field  was  so  apparently  worthless  that  no  farmer  had  cared  to 
secure  it.  They  did  not  trouble  their  heads  with  any  question- 
ing whether  the  South  African  Republic  covered  their  shore 
line,  or  whether  any  native  tribe  laid  claim  to  it,  but  they  were 

1  "  A  Treatise  on  Gems,"  Feuchtwanger,  1867.     "Notices  sur  les  Diamants 
de  1'Oural,"  Parrot.       "Transactions  of  the  Imperial  Russian  Mineralogical  Soci- 
ety," at  St.  Petersburg,  1842.      "  De  Novis  quibusdam  Fossilibus  quae  in  mon- 
tibus  Uraliis  inveniuntur,"  Gustav  Rose,  1839. 

2  "Gems  and  Precious  Stones  of  North  America,"  Kunz,   1890. 


146      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OE   SOUTH    AFRICA 

so  weak  in  numbers  that  they  had  some  fear  of  possible  attack 
from  the  neighboring  Koranas  and  Griquas,  or  other  natives 
who  might  covet  their  oxen  and  arms  and  supplies,  as  well  as 
their  hard-won  gems.1  In  view  of  the  abject  state  of  the  few 
surviving  Hottentots  on  the  Vaal,  any  dread  of  their  hostility 
seemed  absurd,  but  the  miners  did  not  know  how  weak  the 
natives  were,  and  their  new-found  treasure  unsteadied  their 
nerves.  So  they  were  glad  to  see  a  rally  of  prospectors  on  the 
fields  large  enough  to  scare  off  any  menacing  natives. 

The.  early  comers  picked  out  irregular  patches  of  ground 
here  and  there,  to  suit  their  fancy,  and  dug  and  strayed  along 
the  river  banks  as  they  pleased,  prospecting  on  any  unoccupied 
spot.  There  was  no  precise  limit  to  the  size  of  any  claim.  One 
party  would  pounce  on  a  whole  hillock,  like  the  prolific  "  Natal 
kopje,"  and  another  would  occupy  a  hundred  feet  or  more  of 
shore  line.  There  was  no  apparent  need  of  jostling  one  another, 
when  any  square  rod  for  miles  along  a  river  bank  was  as  thickly 
sprinkled  with  diamonds  as  another,  so  far  as  any  of  the  pro- 
spectors could  judge.  Still,  the  known  yield  of  the  Natal  kopje 
drew  preference  to  locations  around  it,  and  the  product  of  other 
neighboring  placers  was  so  enticing  that  the  mass  of  diggers 
concentrated  at  Klip-drift. 

This  massing  made  it  necessary  to  agree  on  some  defined 
limits  of  ground  which  a  man  could  reserve  for  his  own  work- 
ing, or  combine  with  the  sections  assigned  to  companions.  To 
fix  and  make  this  assignment  a  "  Diggers'  Committee "  was 
chosen  by  an  informal  mass  meeting  of  the  prospectors,  which 
made  simple  regulations  controlling  the  working  of  the  river 
diggings.  It  was  agreed  that  the  size  of  a  location  should  be 
thirty  feet  square,  and  that  title  should  be  conveyed  by  a  certificate 
from  the  supervising  committee.  The  water's  edge  along  the 
river  was  open  to  anybody  wherever  it  was  possible  to  set  a 
trough  or  a  miner's  cradle  without  interfering  with  other  ground- 
washing  fixtures  already  in  place,  but  locations  might  begin  a  few 
yards  from  the  river.2  So  there  was  soon  a  close-set  fringe  of 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"   1870-1871,  John  Noble.  2  Ibid. 


THE    CAMPS    ON   THE   VAAL 

cradles  and  water-troughs  at  the  bottom  of  the  Klip-drift  bank, 
and  the  ridged  and  gullied  slope  for  hundreds  of  yards  inland 
was  pitted  with  holes  from  ten  to  thirty  feet  square,  and  ranging 
in  depth  from  four  to  twenty-five  feet.  If  the  river  shore  in 
line  with  the  parallel  claim  was  too  thick  set  with  cradles  to 
admit  a  new  washing  machine,  or  if  the  claim  was  high  up  on 
the  bank,  water  for  washing  was  sometimes  carried  up  from  the 
river  in  carts  to  the  working  ground.  Alluvial  soil  covered  the 
face  of  the  basin,  more  or  less  thickly,  for  a  stretch  of  half  a 
mile  from  the  river,  lying  even  on  the  tops  of  the  kopjes,  except 


Diggings  at  Gong  Gong,  1880. 


where  rugged  boulders  and  blocks  of  basalt  and  trap  protruded 
stiffly  above  the  coating  of  gravel. 

The  choice  of  location  was  largely  determined  by  fancy, 
rather  than  any  solid  reason.  Some  preferred  light  colored 
patches  of  gravel  to  dark,  but  would  have  been  puzzled  by  any 
call  to  justify  their  choice.  Others  sought  for  tops  of  kopjes, 
with  a  supposition  that  the  rains  had  washed  the  light  gravel 
downhill  and  left  the  heavier  deposit  with  the  diamonds  on  the 
crown  of  the  hillocks  and  ridges.1  It  was  generally  observed, 
however,  that  diamond  crystals  were  most  plentiful  in  spots 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Charles  Alfred  Payton,  London, 
1872. 


148      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

where  garnets  and  peridot  were  thickly  deposited  in  the  gravel, 
and  this  observation  was  in  accord  with  current  accounts  of 
mining  in  other  diamond  fields.  So  the  occurrence  of  these 
red  and  green  pebbles  was  commonly  hailed  as  an  assurance  of 
the  presence  of  diamonds,  and  gravel  so  charged  was  washed 
and  sorted  with  exceptional  care.  But  there  was  no  concentrated 
deposit  in  this  field  like  the  cascalho  in  the  Brazilian  river 
valleys,  and  the  labor  of  washing  the  thick  mass  of  loose  gravel 
was  necessarily  great. 

There  were  no  appliances  for  handling  and  concentrating  the 
gravel  marking  any  noticeable  advance  above  the  slow  and  labo- 
rious methods  of  the  Brazilian  and  Indian  placer  workers.  The 
deposit  was  a  mass  of  gravel  and  sand,  thickly  sprinkled  through- 
out with  heavy  boulders  of  basalt  and  melaphyre  which  were 
laboriously  pried  and  dragged  out  of  the  shallow  pits  sunk  by 
the  miners.1  The  mixed  gravel  and  sand  was  shovelled  into 
wheelbarrows  or  carts  and  taken  to  the  river's  edge,  where  it  was 
dumped  into  heaps  on  the  ground,  or  in  troughs  sunk  in  the 
bank.  Then  the  gravel  was  washed  in  cradles,  with  two  or 
three  screens  of  perforated  iron,  or  zinc,  or  wire  mesh,  set  to 
form  partitions  with  discharge  holes  so  graduated  that  the  larger 
stones  were  held  above  the  upper  and  coarser  screen,  while  the 
sand  and  lighter  gravel  flowed  out  through  the  upper  and  lower 
screen  holes.  Meanwhile  the  cradle  was  more  or  less  expertly 
shaken  to  cause  a  deposit  of  the  gravel  of  high  specific  gravity 
on  the  bottom  between  the  screens.  The  worthless  stones  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  cradle  were  then  picked  and  scooped  out 
by  hand  and  thrown  away,  while  the  concentrate  was  taken  out 
carefully  and  carried  to  the  sorting  table,  an  ordinary  deal  stand, 
or  any  level  wooden  or  iron  structure,  or  to  a  flat  stone.  Here 
the  deposit  was  spread  out  thinly  and  sorted  over  inch  by 
inch  with  a  short  scraper  of  hoop  iron,  or  any  other  thin  strip, 
while  the  appearance  of  a  diamond  was  more  or  less  keenly 
watched  for.2 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Charles  Alfred  Payton,  London, 
1872.  2  Ibid. 


THE    CAMPS    ON    THE    VAAL  149 


Vaal  River  Diggings. 

This  washing  machine  was  practically  the  same  as  the  Aus- 
tralian gold  placer  miner's  cradle,  or  the  American  rocker,  and  it 
had  been  used  for  years  on  the  Brazilian  diamond  fields,  though 
the  screening  of  the  Vaal  was  probably  more  exact.  But  the 
Brazilian  negroes  had  become  far  more  expert  by  long  practice 
and  training  than  the  green  workers  on  the  line  of  the  Vaal,  and 
the  handling  of  the  concentrate  in  their  bateas  was  extraordinarily 
deft.  It  has  been  demonstrated  over  and  over  again  in  placer 
fields  that  inexperienced  washers  cannot  compete  with  trained 
hands  in  concentrating  gold  dust,  and  even  expert  gold  placer 
workers  often  failed  to  handle  diamond-bearing  gravel  efficiently. 
So  it  is  not  surprising  that  many  of  the  awkward  adventurers 
in  the  new  fields  lost  heart  completely  at  their  failure  to  extract 
any  diamond  from  the  masses  of  gravel  which  they  dug  and 
washed  so  laboriously  ;  and  it  is  practically  certain  that  the  per- 
centage of  gems  saved,  at  first,  was  below  the  average  winning 
from  the  Brazilian  sands. 

The  irregularity  of  the  distribution  of  diamonds  in  the  shore 
bed  was  greatly  perplexing  and  disappointing  to  the  groping 
locaters.  The  precious  stones  were  strewed  in  the  gravel  in  a 
scattering  way  that  defied  any  calculation.  Here  and  there  was 
a  rich  patch  of  ground,  while  tracts  all  around  it,  precisely  simi- 
lar in  a  surface  view,  held  only  a  few  small  diamonds  or  were 


150       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

hopelessly  barren.  Even  in  the  best  placers  there  were  apparent 
freaks  of  deposit  that  sorely  puzzled  the  diggers,  and  almost  pro- 
voked the  belief  in  the  dropping  of  the  gems  by  whimsical  genii 
rather  than  by  the  play  of  natural  agencies.  One  man,  working 
side  by  side  with  another  for  weeks  in  adjoining  claims,  would 
not  find  one  precious  stone,  while  his  neighbor  was  adding  daily 
to  his  little  sparkling  heap.  Even  when  claims  were  so  split  up 
that  a  digger  could  hardly  turn  about  without  brushing  against 
a  comrade  there  was  the  like  insolvable  contrast  of  gem-studded 
gravel  and  worthless  pebbles.  Often,  too,  when  a  claim  had 
been  abandoned  by  an  unlucky  miner,  the  next  man  who  jumped 
into  the  deserted  hole  would  unearth  in  a  day  a  superb  diamond, 
and,  perhaps,  wash  out  in  a  week  a  score  more  of  precious 


stones.1 


The  miners  were,  as  a  body,  so  orderly,  so  tenacious  of  their 
own  rights  under  the  established  regulations,  and  so  prudent  in 
restricting  the  possible  extent  of  monopolized  ground,  that  there 
was  little  "  claim  jumping  "  or  bitter  wrangling.  The  provision 
against  loafing  or  the  holding  of  unworked  claims  on  speculation 
was  sufficiently  sharp.  The  neglect  to  work  a  claim  for  three 
days  consecutively  forfeited  the  holder's  license,  and  the  ground 
was  then  open  for  the  issue  of  a  new  certificate  to  the  first  claim- 
ant. For  many  months  all  unoccupied  ground  in  the  Klip-drift 
camp  was  greedily  pounced  upon  by  newcomers  to  the  fields. 
So  this  part  of  the  river  basin  was  continuously  covered  with  a 
busy  swarm  of  workers,  digging,  washing,  sorting,  driving  carts, 
and  stirring  in  all  the  daily  occupations  of  camp  life.  Where 
one  man  lost  heart  and  went  off  prospecting  up  or  down  the 
river,  or  plodded  wearily  homewards,  another  was  ready  to  take 
his  place  in  a  moment  and  continue  the  unflagging  round  of 
work. 

It  was  soon  perceived  that  such  diamond  placer  digging 
was  inevitably  a  gambling  speculation,  and  few  complained 
loudly  of  their  hard  luck,  or  bitterly  grudged  the  success  of 
their  neighbors.  When  an  unusually  large  stone  was  found, 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"   1870-1871,  John  Noble. 


THE   CAMPS    ON   THE   VAAL  151 

there  was  commonly  a  shout  and  a  rallying  of  exultant  friends 
around  the  lucky  finder,  and  all  through  the  fields  a  redoubled 
fervor  of  work  from  the  spur  of  the  signal  success.  Every  one 
felt  that  the  good  fortune  of  a  comrade  might  be  his  own  the 
next  moment,  and,if  this  hope  was  cast  down,  the  diggers  toiled 
on  with  indomitable  pluck  and  sanguine  spirit,  ever  lifting  the 
glittering  image  of  better  luck  some  day.  So  the  rasping  of 
shovels,  the  splashing  of  gravel,  the  rumbling  of  carts,  the 
dumping  of  loads,  and  the  rattle  of  cradles  went  on  incessantly 
with  a  lively  din  from  morning  till  night. 


River  Diggings.    Waldek  Plant. 

For  the  sorting  of  the  concentrated  gravel  shady  spots  were 
chosen  beneath  spreading  tree-branches,  where  tables  were  set, 
or  under  the  cover  of  canvas  screens  stretched  over  posts. 
Here  the  miners  bent  over  the  thin  layer  of  gravel,  scraping 
along  the  pebbles  bit  by  bit,  and  gluing  their  eyes  to  the  sliding 
stones  in  anxious  search  for  the  coveted  tiny  white  crystals ;  or 
stretched  out  at  full  length  on  their  stomachs,  they  scraped  the 
gravel  over  the  face  of  the  boards  or  iron  sheets  laid  flat  on  the 
ground.  In  this  branch  of  diamond  winning,  where  keen  eyes 
were  essential,  the  native  blacks  were  largely  employed,  some- 
times under  close  watch  of  a  white  overseer,  and  sometimes 
without  any  oversight.  Part  of  the  black  sorters  were  strictly 


152      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 


Pniel  Diggings,  Vaal  River. 

faithful  and  honest,  as  was  shown  by  test  after  test.  One 
boy  brought  straight  to  his  master  a  diamond  of  eighty  carats, 
which  his  quick  eye  detected  in  the  roots  of  an  old  stump  that 
he  had  been  told  to  dump  into  the  river.  Another  returned  the 
counterfeit  stones  that  his  employer  had  purposely  dropped  in 
the  concentrate.1  But  all  were  not  equally  trustworthy,  and 
many  fine  stones  were  filched  from  the  tables  by  nimble-fingered 
sorters,  even  under  the  eye  of  a  wary  overseer.  When  the  Boer 
farmers  came  to  the  fields,  they  often  brought  their  families  with 
them,  and  it  was  a  common  sight  to  see  father  and  sons  digging 
and  washing,  while  the  mother  and  daughters  sat  on  the  ground 
industriously  picking  over  a  layer  of  pebbles.  Sometimes,  too 


Klip-drift,  Early  River  Diggings. 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870-1871,  John  Noble.      "  The  Diamond  Dig- 
gings of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 


THE   CAMPS   ON   THE   VAAL 


'53 


the  wives  and  sisters  of  Knglish  miners,  even  women  who  had 
rarely  soiled  their  white  hands  before,  might  be  seen  sorting 
river  gravel  as  ardently  as  any  prospector  on  the  line  of  the 
Vaal. 

When  newcomers  roamed  about  sight-seeing  over  the  fields, 
they  were  surprised  to  note  how  rarely  their  presence  drew  even 
a  fleeting  glance.  Scarcely  any  one  of  all  the  groping  swarm  of 
diggers,  washers,  and  sorters,  white  or  black,  men  or  women, 
diverted  an  eye  for  a  moment  from  the  intent  absorption  of  the 
search  for  the  tiny  crystals  embedded  in  the  vast  stretches  of 
gravel.  Eternal  vigilance  is  the  watchword  of  diamond  winning 
as  well  as  of  liber- 
ty. It  was  keenly 
felt  by  the  dia- 
mond seekers  that 
a  fortune  might 
slip  through  their 
hands  in  the  shift- 
ing and  twinkling 
of  an  eye.  So  wan- 
dering strangers 
threaded  their 
way  among  the 
burrows  in  the  Gong  Gong. 

pitted  bank  and  the  diamond  sorting  tables  without  attracting  any 
more  attention  than  stray  pebbles  rolling  down  the  gravel  heap.1 
Whenever  any  one  of  this  curious  swarm  found  a  big  stone 
he  had  a  prize  in  his  hands,  for  the  precious  crystals  of  the 
Vaal  river  beds  are  exceptionally  good  and  free  from  fractures. 
There  were  few  stones  ranging  over  thirty  carats,  but  ten  carat 
stones  were  not  uncommon,  and  even  the  tiniest  stones  of  one 
carat  or  less  were  usually  well  shaped.  Some  were  lightly  tinged 
with  yellow,  detracting  somewhat  from  their  market  value,  but 
there  was  a  large  percentage  of  stones  perfectly  white,  or  so  nearly 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870—1871.     "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South 
Africa,"  Pay  ton,  1872. 


154      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

colorless  as  to  defy  any  scrutiny  except  that  of  experts.  Deep 
orange  yellow  stones  were  occasionally  found,  and  shades  of 
yellow  grading  to  the  finest  straw  color  were  represented  as  well 
as  pale  blue,  brown,  and  pink,  and  other  hues ;  but  any  color 
except  white  or  yellow  was  rarely  to  be  seen.  The  commonest 
crystalline  form  was  the  octahedron,  but  perfect  dodecahedrons 
were  not  unusual,  and  twin  stones  or  a  conglomeration  of  crys- 
tals sometimes  appeared.  There  was  no  adhering  film  or  enve- 
lope such  as  commonly  dulls  the  lustre  of  the  Brazilian  diamond 
crystals.  The  stones  of  the  Vaal  are  clear  and  bright.1 

Digging  for  diamonds  never  becomes  dull  drudgery,  for  there 
is  always  the  glittering  possibility  in  the  mind's  eye  of  upheaving 
a  king's  ransom  with  the  turn  of  a  shovel,  and  it  is  far  more 
exciting  to  a  novice  than  mining  for  gold  or  any  other  minerals. 
But  the  diggers  on  the  Vaal  River  fields  soon  learned  that  the 
actual  disclosure  of  a  diamond  on  the  face  of  the  gravel  which 
he  was  shovelling  was  a  very  rare  occurrence,  for  only  the  largest 
stones  were  likely  to  be  seen  in  a  mass  of  earth  and  pebbles,  and 
few  even  of  these  were  actually  detected  in  the  sinking  of  the 
pits  on  the  river  banks.  So  the  miners  were  rarely  so  absorbed 
in  their  search  that  they  worked  without  stopping  to  eat,  but 
they  clung  to  the  last  gleams  of  the  sun  as  the  miners  have  done 
in  the  rich  gold  pocket  placers  of  America  and  Australia.  The 
diggers  and  washers  went  to  work  usually  at  the  same  hour, 
about  sunrise,  took  an  hour  off  for  breakfast,  and  for  dinner  or 
lunch,  and  stopped  work  when  the  sun  went  down.  In  the 
hotter  weeks  of  the  African  summer  season  (the  summer  — 
November,  December,  January,  and  February  —  is  the  hot  as 
well  as  the  wet  season)  they  did  little  or  no  work  in  the  midday, 
and  when  heavy  rain  and  hail  storms  swept  over  the  fields,  all 
sought  for  cover. 

1  "  South  African  Diamond  Fields  and  Journey  to  Mines,"  William  Jacob 
Morton,  New  York,  1877.  "The Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton, 
1872.  "Diamonds  and  Gold  of  South  Africa,"  Mitchell,  1888.  "To  the 
Cape  for  Diamonds,"  Frederic  Boyle,  London,  1873.  "Diamond  Fields  of  South 
Africa,  by  One  who  has  visited  the  Fields,"  New  York,  1872. 


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$ 


THE   CAMPS    ON   THE   VAAL 


Camping  on  the  banks  of  the  Vaal  was  rarely  unpleasant  to 
any  one  accustomed  to  a  life  in  the  open  country,  and  even  the 
townsmen  found  little  to  grumble  about.  As  soon  as  they 
reached  the  Diamond  Fields,  the  prospectors  looked  about  for 
good  spots  on  which  to  lodge  their  wagons  and  pitch  their  tents. 
Some  took  to  the  fields  small  circular  or  "  bell  "  tents,  but  the 
greater  part  preferred  a  square  or  oblong  "  wall  "  tent,  commonly 
ten  feet  long  and  eight  wide.  From  a  central  ridgepole, 
propped  at  each  end,  the  canvas  roof  was  stretched  to  side  posts 
four  feet  high,  from  which  flaps  hung  to  the  ground.  This 
shelter  served  as  a  home  for  two  or  three  men,  and  a  storehouse 
for  their  stinted  outfit.  It  was  not  spacious,  but  even  a  little 
tent  was  a  welcome  change  from  the  cramped  bunking  in  mass 
under  a  wagon  cover,  and  the  airy,  clean,  canvas  chamber  was 


Washing  Diamond  Gravel  by  Machinery  at  Gong  Gong,  1880. 

much  pleasanter  than  the  ordinary  farmer's  sleeping  room,  as 
many  of  the  prospectors  remarked  from  experience.  Even  when 
the  campers  were  obliged,  for  lack  of  tents,  to  sleep  in  their 
wagons,  the  big  arched  wagon  did  not  suffer  by  comparison  with 
any  Boer's  hut  on  the  veld.  The  tents  were  pitched,  sometimes 
under  the  cover  of  the  larger  trees  lining  the  river  bank,  and 
sometimes  on  sheltered  slopes,  but  the  mass  at  Klip-drift  were 
bare  to  the  sun,  and  exposed  to  the  blast  of  every  storm  that 
tore  through  the  valley. 

Often  these  storms  were  terrific,  opening  with  the  rising  of  a 


156      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

yellow  streak  above  the  horizon,  and  the  rapid  spreading  over 
the   blue   sky  dome   of  rolling   masses   of  heavy,  lurid   clouds. 


Lightning  at  Kimberley. 


Then  from  the  coppery  bosom  of  this  pall  there  came  such  blaz- 
ing streams  of  lightning  in  sheets  and  contorted  shafts,  siich 
rending  explosions  of  thunder  peals,  that  the  awful  flare  and 
crash  would  shake  the  nerves  of  hardened  men.  With  this 


Day  View,  Same  Scene. 


appalling  discharge  there  poured  from  the  clouds  torrents  of 
rain,  or  a  volley  of  huge  hailstones  rattling  on  the  canvas  roofs 


THE   CAMPS   ON   THE   VAAL  157 

and  driving  man  and  beast  to  the  nearest  shelter.1  As  a  safe- 
guard from  these  electric  bolts  the  miners  commonly  put  iron 
lightning  rods  alongside  of  their  tent  poles  and  insulated  them 
with  the  necks  of  glass  bottles,  but  the  insecurity  of  this  shield 
was  evident  in  the  occasional  shattering  of  a  tent  and  the  killing 
or  maiming  of  its  occupants.2 

Except  for  these  storms  the  climate  of  the  Vaal  valley  was 
generally  agreeable.  The  winter  days  were  particularly  pleasant, 
for  the  sun  soon  warmed  the  air  even  when  the  nights  were  so 
cold  that  ice  formed  on  the  face  of  water-troughs.  In  midsum- 
mer the  days  were  often  exceedingly  hot,  the  mercury  rising  as 
high  as  100  Fah.  in  the  shade;  but  the  dry  air  was  not  nearly 
as  enervating  as  the  humid  atmosphere  of  summer  days  in 
Europe  or  America,  and  the  lightly  clothed  miners,  avoiding  the 
midday  glare,  suffered  little.  There  was  a  notable  exemption 
from  sickness  throughout  the  year,  except  for  diarrhoea  and 
dysentery,  and  fever  contracted  in  summer  chiefly  from  the  reck- 
less use  of  unboiled  and  unfiltered  river  water.8 

Plain  food  of  some  kind  was  plentiful  and  cheap,  especially 
maize  meal,  commonly  called  mealie  meal,  and  mutton  and  game 
were  brought  into  the  camp  from  the  neighboring  Transvaal  and 
Free  State  farming  and  pasture  lands.  There  were  many  wild 
fowls,  too,  that  flocked  to  the  valley  of  the  Vaal,  and  several 
kinds  of  food  fish  abounded  in  the  river,  especially  one  resem- 
bling the  voracious  English  barbel,  or  the  catfish  of  America,  and 
the  one  which  the  miners  called  "  yellow  fish."  The  chief  lack 
in  the  food  supply  was  cheap  and  wholesome  vegetables  —  for 
the  dearth  of  these  and  the  excess  of  meat  caused  a  mild  form  of 
scurvy  to  appear  in  the  camp.  Fuel  for  cooking  was  readily  cut 
from  the  trees  along  the  river  bank  or  from  the  thickets  in  the 


ravines.4 


When  the  choice  locations  on  the  Klip-drift  bank  were  taken, 
the  influx,  continuously  moving  to  the  new  Diamond  Fields  from 
the  coast,  spread  up  and  down  the  river,  and  little  camps  sprang 

1  The  Diamond  News,  Klip-drift,  Nov.  4,  1871.  3  Ibid. 

2  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.  4  Ibid. 


158      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

up  at  Gong  Gong,  Union  Kopje,  Delport's  Hope,  Forlorn  Hope, 
Niekerk's  Hope,  Blue  Jacket,  Waldek's  Plant,  Larkin's  Flat, 
and  other  placer  diggings,  extending  from  Hebron  twenty  miles 
northeast  of  Klip-drift  to  Sefonell's,  sixty  miles  west.1  It  has 
been  estimated  that  ten  thousand  diggers,  white  and  black,  were 
stretched  along  the  river  in  this  string  of  camps,  and  in  roving 
parties  of  prospectors.'2  Any  possible  reckoning  of  the  extent 
of  a  rush  of  thousands,  which  nobody  could  measure  exactly  or 
tried  to  measure,  was  of  course  a  rough  guess,  but  it  seems  prob- 
able that  this  guess  was  not  very  far  from  the  fact.  Such  an 
influx  of  restless  adventurers,  pouring  along  a  river  line  in  a 

thinly  peopled  territory  in  the  heart 
of  South  Africa,  as  heedless  as  a 
locust  swarm  of  any  questions  of 
state  sovereignty,  or  native  tribal 
reservations,  or  mineral  right  titles, 
was  certain  to  raise  a  rumpus,  if 
any  official  authority  in  South  Africa 
undertook  to  drive  them  away,  or 
exact  heavy  license  fees,  or  even  to 
hold  them  down  under  strict  laws 

The  Largest  River  Diamond  ever  found          •  i  r  j  T~M  A 

in  South  Africa.  Weight,  3303  Car-     rigorously  enforced.      The  Austra- 

ats;  Value,  £3,500.  .;an   gojd   fiejdg    J^J    furnished   Some 

highly  significant  object  lessons  enforcing  this  certainty,  but  the 
little  Boer  Republics  were  not  disposed  to  learn  any  lesson 
from  the  experience  of  English  Colonies. 

The  South  African  Republic  claimed  the  diamond  placer  bor- 
der north  and  west  of  the  Vaal  as  part  of  its  territory,  but  it  was 
content,  at  first,  with  the  bare  assumption  that  the  diggers  on 
the  northern  and  western  bank  were  within  the  confines  of  its 
domain,  without  caring  to  assert  its  right  of  control  by  any 
marked  interference  with  the  free  proceedings  of  the  diggers. 
It  did  not  regard  the  upturning  of  gravel  on  its  border  line  as 
any  menace  of  serious  intrusion  within  its  territory,  and  the 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870-1871. 

3  "  South  African  Diamond  Fields,"  Morton,  1877. 


THE   CAMPS   ON   THE   VAAL  159 

neighboring  Boer  farmers  were  generally  well  pleased  with  the 
opening  of  ready  markets  for  their  produce.  Representatives 
of  the  Republic  were  recognized  as  officers  of  the  law  at  Hebron, 
but  there  was  little  attempt  to  impress  any  recognition  of  its 
authority  on  the  camps  farther  down  the  Vaal.1 

So  the  miners  at  Klip-drift  went  on  digging  and  scraping  the 
gravel,  under  their  own  simple  regulations,  month  after  month, 
until  their  busy  camp  burst  suddenly  into  an  uproar,  when  the 
news  came  in  that  President  Pretorius  and  the  Executive  Coun- 
cil of  the  Transvaal  Republic  had  granted  to  a  firm  of  three  privi- 
leged persons  the  exclusive  right  to  search  for  diamonds  in  the 
territory  of  the  Republic  for  a  term  of  twenty  years  from  June  22, 
1870,  subject  to  a  royalty  of  six  per  cent  upon  the  value  of  all 
diamonds  discovered.2  There  were  some  old  Australian  placer 
miners  on  the  Vaal  River  Diamond  Fields,  and  they  doubtless 
grinned  at  the  thought  of  the  reception  that  such  a  proclamation 
would  have  met  with  at  Bendigo  and  Ballarat ;  but  it  was  not 
necessary  for  an  adventurer  to  have  had  a  rearing  on  any  gold 
placer  field  to  fire  his  spirit  to  revolt  against  an  edict  of  dispos- 
session and  monopoly.  It  is  idle  to  debate  the  question  of  the 
technical  legal  right  of  the  administration  of  the  South  African 
Republic  to  make  this  grant.  This  may  be  conceded  without 
affecting  the  countering  facts  of  its  gross  partiality,  inexpediency, 
and  practical  futility.  The  whole  regular  army  of  the  United 
States  would  have  been  too  small  to  enforce  any  such  disposition  of 
its  mineral  lands  after  they  had  been  occupied  without  protest  for 
more  than  six  months  by  squatting  placer  miners,  and  bare  com- 
mon sense  would  have  sufficed  to  inform  the  administration  of 
the  little  South  African  Republic  that  it  could  not  give  effect  to 
its  paper  monopoly  without  a  succession  of  fights  that  would  add 
another  "  Blood  River  "  to  the  face  of  South  Africa. 

The  instant  effect  of  the  grant  was  a  universal  uprising  and 
mass  meeting  of  the  Klip-drift  camp,  and  the  declaration  of  the 
foundation  of  another  free  and  independent  Republic  on  the  Vaal, 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"   1870—1871. 

2  "South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal,  1888-1893. 


160       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

of  which  Theodore  Parker,  one  of  the  leading  adventurers,  was 
chosen  president.1  This  was,  on  its  face,  a  proceeding  that 
smacked  of  opera  bouffe,  but,  like  Janus,  it  had  another  face. 
It  was  a  flaunt  of  determination  to  cut  off  every  shred  of  political 
connection  with  the  South  African  Republic,  and  hold  possession 
of  a  slice  of  rich  mining  land  with  a  Colony  which,  at  some  future 
time,  if  not  immediately,  Great  Britain  might  be  disposed  to 
welcome  and  incorporate  with  her  imperial  cluster  on  the  coast. 
If  this  hope  was  not  openly  avowed  at  first,  it  undoubtedly  ex- 
isted in  the  minds  of  many  of  the  diggers,  and  no  time  was  lost 
in  communicating  the  situation  to  her  Majesty's  High  Com- 
missioner at  the  Cape,  Lieutenant  General  Hay. 

It  is,  however,  unlikely  that  there  was  any  confident  expecta- 
tion of  the  endurance  of  the  new  Republic  founded  on  a  gravel 
bank  whose  precious  contents  were  fast  fleeting,  but  the  organi- 
zation was  set  up  as  a  handy  resort,  on  the  spur  of  the  moment, 
to  make  an  imposing  show  of  resistance  to  the  authority  of  the 
South  African  Republic,  and  with  the  idea  of  shunning  the  pen- 
alty of  forcibly  contesting  the  execution  of  the  monopoly  grant 
within  a  recognized  district  of  its  domain.  Whatever  legal 
unsoundness  there  may  have  been  in  the  construction  of  the 
Klip-drift  Republic,  and  in  the  notions  of  its  framers,  the  shaky 
ship  of  state  served  its  main  purpose.  The  administration  of 
the  Transvaal  Republic  realized  their  grave  blunder  too  late, 
and  being  humane  and  peace-loving  men,  refrained  from  any 
attempt  to  maintain  their  grant  or  their  contested  authority  by 
force  of  arms.  But  they  complained  earnestly  to  the  British 
Colonial  authorities  of  the  intrusion  and  illegal  occupation  and 
insubordination  of  the  squatting  adventurers  on  the  Vaal. 

Meanwhile  the  diamond  diggers  did  not  concern  themselves 
with  the  remote  vexation  of  the  Boer  President  and  Council,  but 
kept  on  ransacking  the  gravel.  Early  in  the  year  there  had 
been  some  straggling  prospecting  on  the  Pniel  bank  opposite 
Klip-drift,  but  the  first  continuous  work  on  a  south  bank  placer 

'"South  Africa,"  George  McCall  Theal,  1888-1893.  "Among  the 
Diamonds,"  1870-1871. 


THE   CAMPS   ON   THE   VAAL  161 

was  begun  in  June  by  a  party  from  the  Klip-drift  camp.1  Their 
undertaking  was  an  unwelcome  intrusion  on  land  claimed  by  the 
Pniel  Mission,  and  the  diggers  were  warned  of  their  trespassing 
by  the  clergyman  in  charge.  The  Mission  Station  was  several 
miles  from  the  diamond  placer,  and  the  diggers  ignored  the 
notice,  as  they  were  not  interfering  apparently  with  the  mission 
work  by  washing  river  bank  gravel.  The  placer  ground  proved 
so  rich  that  the  diggers  flocked  to  it  rapidly,  and  the  Berlin 
Society  which  maintained  the  missions  at  Pniel  and  Hebron 
was  soon  glad  to  obtain  the  license  fee  which  it  was  generally 
able  to  secure  from  the  diggers  on  the  Pniel  field.  The  pre- 
ferred locations  on  the  Pniel  bank  were  along  a  stretch  in  the 
middle  of  the  rising  ground,  a  few  yards  from  the  water's  edge. 
In  this  tract  diamonds  were  strewn  so  continuously  as  to  suggest 
the  existence  of  a  flow  or  stream  of  them,  in  the  red  drift  gravel 
between  the  boulders,  to  the  eye  of  more  than  one  observer. 
This  strip  was  soon  honeycombed  with  shallow  pits  reaching 
bedrock  about  twenty-five  feet  below  the  surface.2 

The  flow  of  prospectors  continued  to  spread  until  the  Pniel 
camp,  in  a  few  months,  rivalled  Klip-drift  in  size,  and  the  two 
contained  a  population  of  four  or  five  thousand  people.  Small 
stone,  brick,  and  iron  buildings  for  stores  and  other  business 
uses  were  quickly  put  up  in  rows  along  a  main  street  in  the 
heart  of  Klip-drift  camp,  which  bore  the  name  of  Campbell 
Street,  and  a  few  others  of  the  same  durable  materials  rose  from 
other  spots  in  the  fields,  but  most  of  the  miners  continued  to 
live  in  their  canvas  tents,  or  in  reed  huts  plastered  with  clay. 
The  stone  for  building  was  readily  obtained  from  neighboring 
hillsides,  and  was  neatly  cut  and  laid,  so  that  Campbell  Street 
soon  compared  favorably  with  any  country  town  street  in  South 
Africa.  Butchers,  bakers,  and  grocers  opened  shops ;  restau- 
rants offered  good,  plainly  cooked  food  at  charges  so  moderate 
that  it  was  reckoned  that  a  man  could  be  well  fed  at  a  cost  of 
2s.  6d.  a  day;  a  tavern  and  lodging-house,  dignified  by  the  name 
of  hotel,  accommodated  travellers  and  regular  boarders;  diamond 
1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870-1871.  2  Ibid. 


i6a      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


brokers  sat  ready  to  judge  and  buy  rough  diamonds  for  export ; 
a  music  hall  had  a  rude  vaudeville  show  every  week-day  night; 
members  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  established  a  lodge ;  and  a 
little  brick  church  welcomed  all  comers  to  its  Sunday  services.1 
Similar  buildings  were  put  up  less  regularly  in  the  Pniel 
camp  too,  and  both  sides  of 
the  river  showed  the  like  med- 
ley of  iron,  brick,  stone,  light 
wood,  and  canvas  stores  and 
dwellings.  The  first  mining- 
town  newspaper  in  South  Africa, 


Views  of  Klip-drift. 

the  Diamond  News,  was  started  at 
Pniel,  —  a  little  four-page  sheet 
that  was  chiefly  filled  with  adver- 
tisements of  local  tradesmen  on 
both  sides  of  the  river,  and  the  local  news  and  stir  of  the  river 
diggings.  Rowboats  of  an  established  ferry  made  regular  trips 
across  the  river  from  one  camp  ground  to  the  other,  charging  a 
passenger  sixpence  for  crossing.  So  there  was  easy  communi- 
cation, and  the  two  camps  were  one  in  their  common  appearance, 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870-1871.      "  The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South 
Africa,"  Pay  ton,  1872. 


THE   CAMPS   ON   THE   VAAL  163 

work  and  sympathy,  though  the  Pniel  camp  did  not  pretend  to 
the  dignity  of  an  independent  Republic,  but  submitted  meekly 
to  the  payment  of  license  fees  to  the  Berlin  Mission  Society  and 
to  the  assertion  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  Orange  Free  State, 
represented  by  a  local  magistrate,  with  the  adjuncts  of  a  canvas 
jail,  whipping-posts,  and  stocks.1 

Oddly  enough,  in  view  of  the  shallow  gravel  bed  which  was 
the  sole  support  of  these  camps,  the  approach  of  collapse  was 
not  clearly  foreseen.  An  observer  of  more  than  ordinary  intel- 
ligence visited  the  camp  at  the  close  of  the  year  1870,  and  noted 
the  exhaustion  of  the  rich  ridge  gravel  back  of  Campbell  Street, 
where  more  than  two  thousand  diggers  were  at  work  a  few 
months  before.  Yet,  while  remarking  the  drift  of  prospectors 
to  outlying  placers,  he  wrote,  "  Notwithstanding  this,  Klip-drift 
flourishes,  and  together  with  Pniel  will  no  doubt  always  continue 
to  be  a  head  centre  of  the  diamond-digging  community."  For 
this  sanguine  view  there  was  some  justification  in  the  general 
ignorance  of  the  actual  extent  of  the  diamond  beds  in  the  alluvial 
deposit,  and  in  the  common  declaration  of  a  purpose  to  persist 
in  searching  for  diamonds,  even  by  those  whose  hard  luck 
forced  them  to  abandon  the  fields  for  a  time.  "  Hope's  blest 
dominion  never  ends  "  to  the  most  unfortunate  laborer.  This 
visitor  did  not  meet  one  of  the  many  leaving  the  ground  with 
empty  pockets  who  did  not  protest  his  resolution  to  return  to 
the  diggings  in  the  following  March  or  April  after  the  heat  and 
storms  of  the  summer  season  on  the  Vaal  were  past.2  Fortu- 
nately for  these  luckless  adventurers,  there  was  a  new  and  phe- 
nomenal development  of  other  Diamond  Fields,  whose  output 
soon  dwarfed  all  the  returns  from  the  shallow  River  Diggings. 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870-1871.      "South  Africa,"  George  McCall 
Theal,  1888-1893. 

2  "  Among  the  Diamonds,"    1870-1871. 


CHAPTER    VI 


THE    RUSH    TO    KIMBERLEY 


HERE  was  a  pretty  green  valley  near  the  Free 
State  settlement  of  Fauresmith,  hardly  a  mile 
in  width,  but  stretching  for  several  miles  to  the 
northeast  through  ridges  of  volcanic  rock  kopjes. 
Fauresmith  lay  in  the  track  of  the  stream  flow- 
ing from  the  coast  ports  to  the  diamond-bearing 
valley  of  the  Vaal,  but  there  was  no  thought  of  a  probable  dia- 
mond field  on  the  plateau  so  far  from  a  river  bed.  So  for 
months  the  adventurers  passed  on  without  pausing,  except  for 
a  night's  camp,  on  their  way  to  the  Vaal.  A  Boer  settler,  Cor- 
nelis  Johannes  Visser,  had  taken  up  a  considerable  part  of  the 
neighboring  valley  in  his  farm  of  Jagersfontein,  where  his  house 
stood  in  the  midst  of  a  gay,  blooming  garden.  He  had  died 
before  the  discovery  of  diamonds,  but  his  farm  was  held  by  his 
widow,  Jacoba  Magdalena  Cecilia  Visser,  and  worked  by  an  over- 
seer in  charge. 

A  little  stream,  flowing  from  the  hills,  ran  through  the  valley 
in  the  rainy  season,  though  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year  its 
track  was  only  marked  by  a  spruit  or  dry  water-course.  De 
Klerk,  the  overseer,  noticed  that  many  small  garnets  mixed  with 
pebbles  of  agate  were  sprinkled  along  the  dry  bed  of  this  spruit, 
and  learned  that  the  diggers  on  the  Vaal  believed  garnets  to  be 
an  indication  of  the  presence  of  diamonds.  So  he  began  pros- 
pecting one  day  in  August,  1870,  on  the  line  of  the  spruit,  awk- 
wardly sifting  the  dry  gravel  and  sand  in  a  common  wire  sieve. 
At  the  depth  of  six  feet  he  found  a  fine  diamond  of  fifty  carats, 
and  the  news  of  his  discovery  was  soon  widely  spread  throughout 
the  Free  State.1 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"  1870-1871. 
164 


THE    RUSH    TO    KIMBERLEY  165 

His  neighbors  flocked  first  to  the  farm,  and  the  thrifty  widow 
Visser  was  pleased  to  welcome  them,  and  permitted  them  to  dig 
in  her  spruit,  on  allotted  patches  of  twenty  feet  square,  for  which 
each  paid  her  a  license  fee  of  £1  a  month.  The  phlegmatic 
Boers  were  not  wildly  excited  by  the  prospect  of  fortune  hid  in 
the  spruit,  but  diamond  hunting  was  an  agreeable  diversion  from 
dull  farming,  and  they  came  with  their  wives  and  children  in  their 
big  canvas-covered  wagons,  and  spread  out  through  the  green  val- 
ley like  country  folk  at  a  picnic.  The  children  delighted  in  their 
search  for  pretty  pebbles  and  soon  filled  their  pockets  with  gar- 
nets and  agates ;  but  the  digging  in  the  spruit  was  often  so  labo- 
rious that  the  farmers  were  content  to  squat  on  the  ground  and 
puff  their  long  pipes  while  their  black  servants  did  the  digging 
and  rock  heaving.  When  natives  were  not  engaged  as  diggers, 
the  farmers  and  their  sons  indolently  shovelled  out  the  gravel  in 
heaps  to  be  sorted  by  their  wives  and  children. 

Underneath  the  red  surface  soil  filled  with  pebbles,  there  was 
a  layer  of  calcareous  clay,  varying  in  thickness  from  a  few  feet  to 
twelve  or  more,  covering  drifts  and  pockets  of  gravel  thickly 
sprinkled  with  heavy  boulders  of  greenstone  and  basalt.  It  was 
necessary  to  pry  up  and  tug  out  these  boulders  in  order  to  reach 
the  underlying  gravel,  and  this  task  was  no  child's  play.  Then  the 
gravel  was  pitched  out  of  the  holes,  rudely  sorted  by  dry  sifting 
in  sieves,  and  picked  over  by  hand  in  search  of  the  precious 
stones.  In  some  pockets  there  was  quite  a  sprinkling  of  diamonds, 
garnets  and  peridot,  mixed  with  coarse  gravel,  and  the  returns  far 
exceeded  the  license  charge ;  but  the  diamond  deposit  was  scat- 
tered as  irregularly  as  that  of  the  Vaal  River  field,  and  many  of  the 
workers  toiled  for  weeks  on  their  claims  without  finding  anything 
more  precious  than  the  jawbones  and  teeth  of  a  hyena  or  jackal.1 

Attention  had  hardly  been  called  to  the  diggings  at  Jagers- 
fontein  when  a  still  more  remarkable  discovery  was  made  in  the 
month  of  September,  1870,  at  Dutoitspan,2  on  the  farm  of  Dorst- 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"   1870-1871. 

2  The  original  and  correct  form  of  this  name  was  "  Du  Toit's  Pan,"  or  the 
pan  or  pond  of  du  Toit,  the  name  of  the  man  who  first  owned  the  farm.     Both  Du 
Toit's  Pan  and  Dutoitspan  are  now  used. 


166      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

fontein,  about  twenty  miles  southeast  of  Pniel  and  Klip-drift  on 
the  Vaal.  Du  Toit's  pan  was  one  of  the  curious  natural  land 
basins  before  described,  receiving  the  wash  of  the  surrounding 
ridges,  and  holding  pools  of  water  during  the  rainy  season  and 
sometimes  during  the  year.  The  title  to  the  farm  Dorstfontein 
was  granted  by  the  Free  State  Government  to  Abraham  Pauls  du 
Toit  on  the  4th  of  April,  1860.  Du  Toit  sold  the  farm  to 
Adriaan  J.  van  Wyk,  who  had  built  a  little  house  near  the  side 
of  the  "  pan,"  where  he  was  living  indifferent  to  the  rush  of 
prospectors  to  the  Vaal  River,  until  he  was  suddenly  surprised 
by  the  finding  of  diamonds  a  short  distance  from  his  house. 

When  the  news  of  this  discovery  spread,  coming,  as  it  did,  so 
close  upon  the  revelation  at  Jagersfontein,  there  was  an  instant 
rush  of  prospectors  from  the  Vaal  to  the  new  field,  swelled  by 
the  neighboring  farmers  and  the  influx  still  flowing  from  the 
coast  towns.  Van  Wyk  demanded,  at  first,  a  royalty  of  one- 
fourth  of  the  value  of  all  diamonds  found  on  his  farm,  from 
every  prospector  seeking  to  explore  the  new  field ;  but  he  soon 
concluded  to  issue  licenses  at  a  charge  of  js.  6d.  monthly  for 
every  allotted  claim  of  thirty  feet  square.  The  Orange  Free 
State  government  was  aroused  to  assert  its  claim  of  sovereignty 
by  the  spread  of  the  discoveries,  and  attempted  to  restrict  the 
allotment  of  the  claims  on  the  farm  land,  for  the  benefit  of  its 
own  citizens,  by  an  ordinance  prohibiting  the  issuance  of  licenses 
to  any  one  except  a  Free  State  burgher  or  farmer ;  but  this 
requirement  was  easily  evaded  at  Jagersfontein  and  Dutoitspan 
by  the  transfer  of  licenses  granted  to  Free  State  citizens.  Fur- 
thermore, the  spread  of  the  news  of  the  discovery  and  the  result- 
ant rush  to  the  Diamond  Fields  was  soon  beyond  any  possible 
restriction  imposed  by  this  little  Republic.1  Van  Wyk  was  pre- 
vailed upon  without  much  difficulty  to  sell  his  farm  to  the 
predecessors  of  the  London  and  South  African  Exploration 
Company  for  ^2600,  a  fortune  far  surpassing  any  glitter  of 
pebbles  in  the  ground,  in  the  view  of  this  simple  farmer. 

Side  by  side  with  the  Dorstfontein  farm  lay  the  farm  of  Bult- 

1  "South  Africa,"  Theal,  1888-1893. 


THE   RUSH   TO    KIMBERLEY  167 

fontein,  divided  by  a  public  roadway.  The  spread  of  prospect- 
ing soon  passed  naturally  across  the  road  to  Bultfontein  and  to 
other  neighboring  farms.  Bultfontein  was  owned  by  a  poor 
Boer,  Cornelis  Hendrik  du  Plooy,  and  before  the  discovery  at 
Dutoitspan  a  thousand  pounds  would  have  been  thought  a 
grossly  extravagant  price  to  pay  for  the  whole  farm  and  its  live 
stock.  But  the  luck  of  van  Wyk  put  a  new  face  on  the  scrubby 
farm  lands  near  the  Vaal,  and  an  eager  Free  State  speculator, 
Thomas  Lynch,  did  not  wait  over  Sunday  to  buy  Bultfontein, 
but  amazed  the  owner  by  driving  out  to  his  farm  on  the  Lord's 
Day,  November  14,  1869,  an^  offering  ^2000  for  his  land.  Du 
Plooy  accepted  the  offer  on  the  spot,  for  such  a  sum  in  cash  was 
vastly  bigger  in  his  eyes  than  any  possible  return  from  farming 
or  picking  up  "  blink  klippe."  It  is  said  that  diamonds  had 
been  found  on  the  farm  previous  to  this  sale,  but  Du  Plooy  was 
not  aware  of  any  actual  discovery  on  his  land,  and  preferred  cash 
in  hand  to  any  gambling  chances.  The  story  is  told  that  Bult- 
fontein mine  was  discovered  by  the  finding  of  a  diamond  in  the 
mortar  used  by  du  Plooy  to  plaster  his  house  and  the  subsequent 
search  for  diamonds  in  the  pit  from  which  the  sand  had  been 
taken.  It  is  true  that  diamonds  were  found  as  reported,  but  it 
was  some  time  after  the  mine  had  been  rushed.1 

On  the  same  day  that  du  Plooy  sold  his  farm  to  Lynch, 
he  was  beset  by  Leopold  Lilienfeld  and  others,  who  advised 
him  that  the  sale  was  illegal,  being  made  on  a  Sunday,  and 
eventually  Lilienfeld  gave  du  Plooy  an  indemnity  against  all 
damages  if  he  would  refuse  to  conclude  the  sale  to  Lynch. 
On  November  16,  1869,  the  sale  of  the  farm  was  concluded 
between  du  Plooy  and  Leopold  Lilienfeld,  Louis  Hond  and 
Henry  Barlow  Webb  for  the  sum  of  ^£2000.  Hond  sold  his 
one-third  interest  to  Webb,  who,  with  Lilienfeld,  Edgar  Eager 
Hurley,  and  others,  formed  the  "  Hopetown  Company." 

Lynch  brought  action  against  du  Plooy  for  ^10,000  damages, 
and  obtained  a  judgment  for  ^500  and  costs  on  August  19,  1872. 
In  spite  of  his  indemnity  du  Plooy  was  then  obliged  to  sue 
i"  Among  the  Diamonds,"  John  Noble,  1870-1871. 


168       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Lilienfeld  and  his  associates,  and  obtained  judgment  for  ^760 
19^.  id.  and  costs,  February  12,  1893.  In  1876,  when  the  Land 
Commission  heard  this  case,  the  London  and  South  African  Ex- 
ploration Company  had  been  formed,  and  the  title  to  the  farm 
was  granted  to  that  company,  as  successors  of  the  "  Hopetown 
Company." 

Bultfontein  was  linked  to  Dorstfontein  by  the  acquisition  of 
both  farms  by  one  holder,  and  transfer  in  a  subsequent  sale  to 
investors  associated  as  the  London  and  South  African  Explora- 
tion Company.  The  farm  of  Vooruitzigt,  which  lay  bordering 
on  Dorstfontein  and  Bultfontein  to  the  north,  was  bought  for 
_£6ooo  shortly  after  by  other  speculative  investors, —  the  firm  of 
Messrs.  Dunell,  Ebden  &  Co.,  of  Port  Elizabeth. 

The  correct  record  of  these  farms  is  as  follows :  — 

Bultfontein  was  originally  granted  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment (then  occupying  the  Free  State  under  the  name  of  "  The 
Orange  River  Sovereignty")  to  J.  F.  Otto,  December  16,  1848, 
under  Warden  certificate. 

Dorstfontein  was  granted  by  the  Free  State  Government  to 
Abraham  Pauls  du  Toit  on  the  4th  of  April,  1860. 

Alexandersfontein  was  granted  by  the  Free  State  Govern- 
ment to  Johannes  Cornelis  Coezee  on  the  jd  of  December,  1862. 
That  portion  cut  off  by  the  Free  State  boundary  from  Griqua- 
land  West  was  granted  to  Philip  Rudolph  Nel  and  Willem 
Gabriel  Nel  on  the  i6th  of  January,  1880. 

Vooruitzigt  was  originally  a  portion  of  Bultfontein,  and  was 
sold  to  D.  A.  and  J.  N.  de  Beer  on  the  i8th  of  April,  1860. 

At  the  time  of  these  purchases  the  price  paid  for  any  ground 
outside  of  a  short  stretch  on  the  Dorstfontein  farm  was  wholly 
speculative.  There  had  been  no  considerable  discovery  of  dia- 
monds except  along  the  top  of  a  sloping  ridge  or  long  kopje 
lying  north,  at  a  distance  of  about  a  third  of  a  mile,  from  du 
Toil's  pan.  The  total  area  of  the  three  farms  was  about  fifty- 
eight  and  a  half  (58*^)  square  miles.1  The  comparative  ease  of 

1  The  total  area  of  the  farms,  Dorstfontein  (6579  acres),  Bultfontein  (14,457 
acres),  and  Vooruitzigt  (16,405  acres),  is  37,441  acres,  equal  to  58^  square  miles. 


THE    RUSH   TO    KIMBERLEY  169 


Kimberley,  1872. 

working  in  the  new  fields  was  a  pleasant  surprise  to  the  River 
Diggers,  who  had  been  obliged  to  sink  pits  in  heavy  gravel  thick 
set  with  boulders.  Now  they  found  diamonds  sprinkled  through 
a  light  surface  soil  of  decomposed  yellow  ground,  and  many 
stones  were  so  thinly  covered  with  earth  that  some  little  brilliant 
crystals  were  washed  free  from  sand  after  every  heavy  rain,  and 
lay  shining  on  the  ground,  to  be  picked  up  by  sharp-eyed  dia- 
mond seekers.1  The  mines  were  not  covered  with  basalt,  but  in 
many  cases  with  a  layer  of  rather  hard  limestone  or  calcareous 
tufa  similar  to  that  which  covers  a  large  part  of  the  surface  of 
the  country  in  this  neighborhood,  which  has  been  metamorphosed 
by  the  evaporation  of  water  charged  with  carbonate  of  lime. 

The  first  swarm  of  prospectors  on  the  ground  supposed  that 
the  diamonds  of  Dutoitspan  were  simply  a  sprinkling  strewn 
through  a  sand  wash  like  the  river-shore  deposit.  When  their 
shovels  struck  an  underlying  stratum  of  limestone  with  streaks 
of  greenish  shale,  at  a  depth  of  two  feet  or  less,  they  presumed 
that  this  corresponded  to  the  known  bedrock  of  the  placers 
along  the  Vaal,  and  had  no  thought  that  it  was  a  casing  for  any 
precious  stones.  So  they  simply  dug  through  the  soil  and 
shovelled  the  ground  into  heaps  to  be  sifted  dry  with  common 
wire  sieves  of  coarse  and  fine  mesh.  There  were  no  boulders 
in  this  soil  and  few  large  stones,  so  that  their  claims  could  be 
rapidly  worked.2 

The  ground  contained  a  plentiful  sprinkling  of  small  yellow- 
ish diamonds  and  some  larger  stones,  but  the  deposit  was  so 
shallow  that  it  soon  was  exhausted.  In  the  course  of  a  week  or 
two  one  digger  with  the  help  of  a  sorter  shovelled  and  sifted  all 
the  ground  of  his  claim,  thirty  feet  square,  and  moved  to  another, 
or  rambled  off"  prospecting  over  the  farm  lands.8  There  seemed 

1  '<  The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,   1872. 

2  Ibid.  s  Ibid. 


1 7o      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

no  prospect  to  him  that  the  Dutoitspan  ridge  still  held  anything 
to  reward  the  labor  of  penetrating  a  rock  bed.  But  after  many 
prospectors  had  ransacked  the  soil  of  their  claims  and  abandoned 
them,  one  of  the  workers  on  the  ridge  or  elevated  land  had  the 
fancy  to  see  what  might  possibly  lie  under  the  stratum  of  lime- 
stone, and  determined  to  cut  a  few  feet,  at  least,  through  the  rock. 
He  found  that  the  limestone  soon  grew  so  soft  and  rotten  that 
it  could  be  split  easily  by  the  stroke  of  a  pick  and  the  lumps 
crushed  by  the  blow  of  a  shovel.  This  rotten  rock  fused  soon 
with  a  curious  decomposed  breccia  of  a  yellowish  color,  and 
the  sifting  of  this  ground  showed,  to  his  amazed  eyes,  the 
presence  of  diamonds  sparkling  on  his  sieve  or  on  the  sorting 
table.1 

With  the  spreading  of  this  discovery  there  came  another 
rush  of  diggers  to  the  ridge  that  soon  covered  every  patch  of 
unoccupied  ground  on  its  slopes.  Foot  after  foot  the  mining 
pits  sunk  through  the  soft  cement,  which  was  often  so  decom- 
posed that -the  point  of  a  pick  pierced  it  like  a  mass  of  dried 
mud.  Instead  of  decreasing  in  number,  the  quantity  of  gems 
in  a  claim  often  increased  with  the  deepening  of  the  pits,  and 
the  proportion  of  large  rough  diamonds  was  far  greater  below 
the  depth  of  a  fathom  than  in  the  surface  soil  or  the  crust  of  the 
limestone  stratum.  Payton  says  that  fragments  of  volcanic 
rocks  —  green  trap  and  basalt  chiefly — were  scattered  through 
the  limestone  and  yellow  ground ;  but  there  were  very  few  large 
boulders,  and  the  work  of  mining  was  far  less  laborious  than 
any  pit-driving  in  the  river  bank  at  Klip-drift  and  Pniel.2 

Some  cut  adits  at  varying  angles  in  the  slope  of  the  ridge, 
and  carried  out  their  ground  in  buckets  or  wheelbarrows.  This 
method  of  mining  shunned  the  toil  of  lifting  heavy  buckets  out 
of  the  pits,  but  it  was  dangerous  from  the  frequent  ground 
slides  and  rock  falls,  and  caused  many  a  wrangle  when  adit  lines 
crossed  or  pits  met  the  tunnels.  Others  opened  their  claims 
by  cutting  a  series  of  descending  stages,  diminishing  in  size  step 
by  step,  so  that  the  pit  bottom  was  reached  by  passing  down  a 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.          2  Ibid. 


THE    RUSH   TO    KIMBERLEY  171 

rude  rock  staircase.  This  was  a  rapid  and  convenient  mode  of 
opening  ground  at  the  start,  but  where  claims  were  only  thirty 
feet  square,  it  was  clear  that  no  single  claim-holder  could  go  far 
down  in  this  way  without  reaching  a  point  where  the  bottom 
step  of  his  staircase  would  cover  the  floor  of  his  claim.  For  this 
reason  many  preferred  to  mine  more  slowly  in  small  perpen- 
dicular shafts,  in  whose  side  little  niches,  familiarly  known  as  toe 
holes,  were  cut,  so  that  agile  men  could  clamber  up  and  down. 
Or  the  shaft  bottom  was  reached  by  means  of  a  knotted  rope  or 
riem  of  rawhide,  dangling  into  the  pit  from  a  post  set  in  the 
ground  near  the  mouth  of  the  shaft.  When  a  bucket  was  filled 
with  broken  rock  by  a  digger  working  on  a  pit  floor,  his  mate 
hauled  up  the  load  by  winding  a  rope  stretching  from  the  handle 
over  a  rude  windlass,  or  by  sheer  lifting.  When  only  one 
digger  was  holding  a  claim,  he  was  obliged  to  clamber  out  of 
his  pit  and  haul  up  his  bucket  whenever  he  filled  it. 

To  extract  the  diamonds  the  broken  rock  was  pulverized 
by  beating  with  shovels  and  then  screened  in  a-  common 
round  sieve  of  coarse  mesh,  to  separate  the  larger  stones 
that  were  worthless.  After  this  screening  the  ground  passing 
through  the  coarse  wire  mesh  was  carefully  sifted,  a  second  time, 
in  a  rocking  sieve  of  fine,  strong  wire.  This  sieve  was  set  in 
an  oblong  frame,  usually  about  three  feet  long  and  two  broad, 
with  handles  at  one  end  and  deep  notches  at  the  other,  gripping 
a  narrow  strip  of  rawhide  stretched  between  two  upright  posts 
called  sieve  props.  When  this  rocker  was  swung  rapidly,  all 
the  sand  and  dust  fell  through  the  wire  mesh,  leaving  a  concen- 
trate of  fine  chips  and  little  pebbles  of  limestone,  talc,  basalt,  and 
trap,  carrying  a  sprinkling  of  garnets,  peridot,  and  an  occasional 
diamond  crystal.  This  concentrate  was  then  taken  to  a  sorting 
table  and  scraped  over  in  the  same  way  as  the  river  gravel.1 

Diamond  winning  on  the  upland  was  easier,  at  first,  than 
working  the  river  placers ;  but  there  was  one  common  annoy- 
ance which  was  much  more  irritating  on  the  new  fields  than  at 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.  "Among  the 
Diamonds,"  1870-1871. 


1 72       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

the  river  diggings.  Hot  winds  blew  the  red  dust  from  the  sur- 
rounding veld  in  clouds  over  the  workers,  and  these  dust  blasts 
were  mixed  with  the  powdered  white  limestone  and  pulverized 
cement  of  the  ridge,  shaken  through  the  sieves  and  blown  in 
the  faces  of  the  miners,  inflaming  their  eyes,  clogging  their 
noses,  and  even  coating  their  skin  through  their  clothes.  So 
fine  was  this  powder  and  so  sharply  blown  that  it  penetrated 
even  hunting-case  watches,  and  few  watches  could  be  kept  run- 
ning after  a  month  at  the  diggings  of  Dutoitspan.1 

But  this  was  comparatively  a  trivial  concern  to  ardent  dia- 
mond seekers,  winning  the  precious  stones  so  frequently. 
Every  day  swelled  the  rush  of  adventurers  to  the  pan,  bargain- 
ing for  halves,  quarters,  and  even  eighths  of  a  claim  on  the 
ridge,  and  roaming  over  every  foot  of  ground  of  Dorstfontein 
and  the  neighboring  farms  of  Bultfontein,  Vooruitzigt,  and  Alex- 
andersfontein  in  search  of  new  diamond  beds.  Oddly  enough, 
as  the  prospectors  thought,  no  spot  on  the  whole  farm  of  Dorst- 
fontein rewarded  their  search  outside  of  the  ridge  near  the  pan, 
and  for  months  no  better  luck  attended  the  hunting  for  dia- 
monds over  the  neighboring  farms.  But  where  one  party  of 
the  ardent  seekers  failed  to  find  diamonds,  another  followed  on 
its  track  and  scoured  the  face  of  the  farms  with  shovels  and 
sieves,  with  a  persistence  that  was  certain  to  be  rewarded,  in 
time,  if  any  diamond  surface  beds  existed  outside  of  the  ridge 
at  Dutoitspan.  In  the  frequent  sinking  of  pits,  also,  in  the 
basins,  for  water,  there  was  the  further  chance  of  piercing  some 
hidden  bed  of  diamonds,  for  the  search  for  springs  was  hardly 
less  keen  than  the  quest  for  precious  stones. 

So,  early  in  i8yi,2  diamonds  were  unearthed  in  the  surface 
soil  close  to  the  farmhouse  of  Bultfontein.  This  discovery  was 
followed  in  the  first  days  of  May  by  the  discovery  of  diamonds 
on  de  Beer's  farm,  Vooruitzigt,  about  two  miles  from  Dutoits- 
pan.8 Two  months  later  a  second  diamond  bed  was  uncov- 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.          2  Ibid. 
3  Ibid.      [These  dates  differ  somewhat  from  those  given  by  Theal  and  others. 
Payton  was  on  the  ground  in  July,  1871,  and  his  account  should  be  most  accurate.] 


THE   RUSH    TO    KIMBERLEY 


173 


ered  on  the  same  farm,  lying  on  a  gently  sloping  kopje,  at  a 
distance  from  the  first  location  roughly  reckoned  at  a  mile. 
This  kopje  had  been  searched  twice  by  prospectors,  it  is  said, 
without  success,  and  one  report  says  that  the  deposit  was  finally 
discovered  through  the  sinking  of  a  well  on  the  ground.1  The 
diggers  drove  their  well  down  seventy-six  feet  without  finding 
water,  but  at  this  depth  one  was  amazed  to  see  a  diamond  of 
eighty-seven  carats  sparkling  on  the  wall  of  his  dry  pit. 

So  many  conflicting  state- 
ments have  been  made  as  to 
the  discovery  of  the  first  dia- 
mond at  this  location,  called 
New  Rush  or  Colesberg  Kopje, 
and  afterward  famous  as  Kim- 
berley  Mine,  that  I  have  been 
perplexed  to  decide  to  which 
story  the  most  credence  should 
be  given.  The  difficulty  in  ob- 
taining trustworthy  data  arises 
from  the  fact  that  few  of  the 
original  diggers  are  still  alive, 
and  that  most  of  those  who 
are  still  living  are  scattered  to 
all  parts  of  the  world.  More- 
over one  cannot  always  rely 
upon  the  accuracy  of  the  mem- 
ory of  the  old  diggers  now  living  upon  the  Fields  as  to  dates 
and  details  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  thirty  years.  After 
diligent  sifting  of  all  reports  and  records,  however,  the  following 
conclusion  may  be  said  to  be  well  determined. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Mrs.  Grimmer,  the  widow  of  Dr. 
Grimmer,  a  practising  physician  at  Colesberg  when  the  Diamond 
Fields  were  discovered,  I  was  enabled  to  meet  Mrs.  Raw- 
storne,  the  mother  of  Fleetwood  Rawstorne,  then  (1900)  living 
at  Cape  Town.  She  is  a  fine-looking  old  lady,  as  her  portrait 
1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 


Mrs.  Rawstorne. 


174      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


shows,  well  preserved  after  a  long  and  eventful  life  in  South 
Africa.  She  was  eighty-two  years  old  at  the  time  of  our  meeting. 
Her  memory  took  her  back  to  the  days  of  the  discovery,  and 
she  related  the  incidents  of  the  Fields  as  clearly  as  if  they  had 
happened  but  yesterday.  The  photograph,  here  reproduced,  of 
the  discoverer  of  Kimberley  mine  and  his  party  was  taken  a  few 
days  after  the  discovery  of  diamonds  on  Colesberg  Kopje. 
Fleetwood  Rawstorne  stands  in  the  middle  of  the  group  (page 
175),  in  the  shade  of  a  fine  specimen  of  the  camelthorn  trees 

which  grew  upon  the  mine.  They 
had  only  begun  to  dig  prospect- 
ing holes.  The  cut  on  page  176 
shows  the  primitive  method  of 
working  the  diamond  -  bearing 
ground.  I  had  the  story  of  the 
discovery  also  from  Mr.  T.  B. 
Kisch,  who  states  that  he  is  the 
only  one  now  living  of  the  first 
four  locators. 

Fleetwood  Rawstorne,  T.  B. 
Kisch,  and  two  other  diggers 
were  prospecting  on  this  kopje 
during  the  month  of  July,  1871. 
Some  of  the  party  thought  they 
saw  "  indications  "  of  diamond 
deposits,  and  Rawstorne  sent  his 
Kafir  servant  to  prospect  thor- 
oughly the  spot  in  view.  The  Kafir  returned  to  his  master  with 
a  diamond  of  about  two  carats  weight.  This  discovery  was  made 
known  at  once  to  the  other  members  of  the  party,  and  all  went 
immediately  to  the  spot  and  marked  and  pegged  off  their  claims  ; 
Rawstorne  pegging  three,  two  as  a  reward  for  discovery  and  one 
as  a  digger.  After  the  claims  had  been  pegged  off  Rawstorne 
went  to  the  authorities  and  reported  his  discovery.  On  the 
following  day  the  government  surveyor  was  sent  to  mark  off  the 
claims  and  allot  them  according  to  the  existing  law  or  custom. 





Mr.  T.  B.  Kisch.  (The  only  one  now  living 
of  the  first  party  who  located  claims  on 
Kimberley  Mine.) 


THE    RUSH   TO    KIMBERLEY 


Kimberley  Mine  just  after  the  Discovery,  July,  1871. 

The  name  of  Colesberg  Kopje  was  given  to  the  hillock 
because  the  lucky  diggers,  headed  by  Rawstorne,  came  to 
the  field  from  the  town  of  Colesberg,  near  the  Orange  River. 
The  instant  flocking  of  people  to  the  two  Vooruitzigt  farm 
diggings  caused  them  to  be  roughly  distinguished  as  "  De  Beers 
Rush"  or  "  Old  De  Beers,"  and  "  De  Beers  New  Rush,"  or  the 
"  Colesberg  Kopje  "  —  names  which  endured  some  months,  until 
the  "  New  Rush  "  was  rechristened  Kimberley  in  honor  of  the 
British  secretary  for  the  colonies. 

This  inroad  of  squatting  prospectors  was  greatly  vexing  at  first 
to  the  owners  of  the  diamond-bearing  farms.  It  disturbed  the 
use  of  the  ground  for  stock-raising  purposes,  and  if  there  were 
any  diamonds  on  the  land,  the  purchasing  speculators  wanted  to 
hold  the  beds  for  their  own  exclusive  development  and  profit. 
But  it  was  soon  evident  that  this  design  was  impracticable.  The 
swarm  that  covered  the  ground  could  not  be  held  in  check  by 
any  force  at  command  of  the  owners,  and  stiffly  refused  to  recog- 


176      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

nize  any  assertion  of  legal  claims  that  took  the  form  of  monopoly 
titles.  The  first  diggers  on  the  Bultfontein  farm  were  warned 
off  by  the  owners  for  trespass.  There  was  a  momentary  hesita- 
tion till  the  rush  was  swelled  by  numbers  so  large  that  the  for- 
bidden ground  was  "jumped"  in  an  hour,  and  diggers  upturned 
the  soil  to  the  very  door  of  the  farmhouse.  Then  the  owners 
called  on  the  Orange  Free  State  police  for  help,  and  the  miners 
were  driven  away  for  some  days  ;  but  the  certainty  of  another  irre- 
sistible rush  was  so  ominous  that,  toward  the  end  of  May  (1871), 
the  proprietors  opened  the  field  to  all  comers  on  payment  of  a 
license  of  ten  shillings  a  month  for  each  claim  of  thirty  feet  square.1 
In  the  grants  of  farms  by  the  Dutch  East  India  Company 
there  had  been  no  reservation  of  mineral  rights,  but  from  the 
time  of  the  cession  to  Great  Britain,  MacNab  says  the  grant  of 
lands  did  not  carry  a  title  to  "  precious  stones,  gold,  and  silver," 
which  were  explicitly  excluded,  and  in  1860  it  was  enacted  in 


Kimberley  Mine  just  after  the  Discovery,  July,  1871. 

1  "  The    Diamond    Diggings    of  South  Africa,"    Payton,    1872. 
Africa,"  Theal,  1888-1893. 


<  South 


THE   RUSH    TO    KIMBERLEY 


177 


Parliament  that  no  lands  containing  valuable  minerals  should 
be  considered  waste  lands  of  the  crown  for  purposes  of  sale. 
This  did  not  apply  to  Griqualand  West,  as  there  was  no  min- 
eral or  precious  stones  act  or  ordinance  in  force  in  this  terri- 
tory until  Ordinance  No.  3  of  1871,  of  the  Orange  Free  State 
Government.1  Whether  there  were  mineral  reservations  in  the 
diamond-bearing-farm  deeds  was 
not  questioned  by  the  inrush- 
ing  diggers.  They  would  not 
suffer  exclusion  without  a  fight, 
but  they  were  willing  to  pay  small 
license  charges  to  the  farm  own- 
ers for  the  privilege  of  working 
allotted  claims.  The  size  of  these 
claims  was  fixed  by  agreement 
with  representative  "  Diggers' 
Committees,"  chosen  by  the  pros- 
pectors in  mass  meeting,  and  these 
committees  determined  also  the 
simple  mining  regulations  and 
camp  rules.  One  committee  had 
charge  of  the  Dutoitspan  and 
Bultfontein  mining  camps,  and 
another  directed  the  mining  at 
De  Beers  and  the  Colesberg 
Kopje,  pitching  its  official  tent 
midway  between  these  two  dia- 
mond beds.2  Fleetwood  Rawslorne. 

The  Orange  Free  State  claimed  the  new  diamond  fields  as 
part  of  its  territory,  but  its  right  of  control  was  not  vigorously 
asserted  in  practice.  There  was  a  rising  issue  from  the  time  of 
the  discovery  at  Dutoitspan  touching  the  ownership  of  the 
district  containing  the  diamond-bearing  farms  and  the  diggings 
on  the  line  of  the  Vaal.  The  South  African  Republic  claimed 

1  "On  Veld  and  Farm,"  Frances  MacNab,  London,  1897. 

2  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Pay  ton,  1872. 


178       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

the  ground  north  and  west  of  the  river,  as  before  noted,  but  the 
miners  at  Klip-drift  had  continued  to  maintain  their  rude  Republic 
or  independent  camp,  drifting  into  a  condition  verging  on  anar- 
chy, under  the  doubtful  control  of  a  factious  "  Executive  Commit- 
tee," until  December  13,  1871,  when  the  camp  gladly  submitted 
to  the  authority  of  a  provisional  magistrate,  appointed  by 
Lieutenant  General  Hay,  her  Majesty's  High  Commissioner.1 
This  energetic  official  had  his  eyes  widely  open  to  the  possible 
value  and  extent  of  the  new  diamond-bearing  field,  and  was  not 
only  disposed  to  sustain  the  appeal  of  the  river  diggers  against 
the  monopoly  grant  of  the  Transvaal  Republic,  but  wrote 
to  President  Brand,  the  head  of  the  Orange  Free  State,  in 
September,  1870,  questioning  the  title  of  the  Free  State  to  the 
Dutoitspan  fields  and  the  river  diggings  at  Pniel.2 

At  the  time  of  the  creation  of  the  Orange  Free  State  out 
of  the  domain  included  in  the  Orange  River  Sovereignty,  there 
had  been  explicit  recognition  of  reservations  set  apart  for  the 
Basutos,  Koranas,  and  Griquas, —  native  tribes  dwelling  within 
the  limits  of  the  Sovereignty.  But  there  was  an  apparent  lack 
of  precision  in  the  reservations  or  claims  of  the  Koranas  and 
Griquas  especially,  which  was  accounted  of  little  consequence  at 
the  time,  until  the  discovery  of  diamonds,  on  a  tract  otherwise 
not  worth  contesting,  aroused  rival  claimants.  The  Berlin 
Mission  Society  claimed  the  diggings  at  Pniel  on  the  strength  of 
a  deed  of  sale  of  part  of  the  Korana  reserve.  Nicholas  Waterboer 
and  other  Griqua  chiefs,  doubtless  prompted  by  speculative  agents, 
set  up  their  claim  to  a  considerable  stretch  of  ground,  covering 
Klip-drift  and  Pniel  as  well  as  the  upper  angle  between  the 
Orange  and  the  Vaal,  containing  the  diamond  fields  of  Dutoits- 
pan and  the  surrounding  farms.  The  Orange  Free  State  did 
not  dispute  the  right  of  the  natives  to  hold  such  reservations  as 
had  been  assigned  to  them  by  the  British  Government,  but  con- 
tended that  the  stretch  of  the  native  tribal  claims  was  wholly 
unjustified,  and  that  Pniel  and  Dutoitspan  were  clearly  within 
the  bounds  of  its  domain.8 

1  "  The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 

2  "South  Africa,"  Theal.  3  Ibid. 


THE   RUSH    TO    KIMBERLEY 


179 


Some  of  the  Native  Chiefs  dealt  with  by  Mr.  Richard  Southey,  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Griqualand 
West,  during  his  Administration. 


i8o       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Sir  Henry  Barlcly  succeeded  Lieutenant  General  Hay  early 
in  1871  as  her  Majesty's  High  Commissioner  and  Governor  of 
Cape  Colony,  and  was  expressly  instructed  by  Earl  Kimberley, 
the  British  secretary  for  the  colonies  (January  24,  1871),  not  to 
countenance  any  annexation  of  territory  outside  of  the  uncon- 
tested  limits  of  Cape  Colony,  which  the  Colony  would  be 
unable  to  govern  and  defend  with  its  own  unaided  resources. 
But  the  new  High  Commissioner  —  viewing  the  situation  and 
the  course  of  his  predecessor,  which  he  cordially  approved  - 
replied  to  his  instructions  bluntly  that  the  British  Government 
"  had  already  gone  too  far  to  admit  of  its  ceasing  to  support  the 
cause  of  either  Waterboer  or  the  diggers."  1  He  concluded  an 
arrangement,  accordingly,  for  the  transfer  to  Great  Britain  of 
the  claims  of  the  native  chiefs,  subject  to  the  ratification  of  the 
Home  Government,  and  his  representations  secured  the  consent 
of  the  Ministry,  in  the  following  May,  to  the  transfer,  and  to 
the  assertion  of  British  sovereignty  over  the  disputed  territory, 
pending  the  final  decision  of  the  special  court  of  arbitration 
which  had  been  convened  by  the  agreement  of  the  contesting 
claimants. 

The  court  had  been  opened,  in  the  previous  April  (1871), 
in  the  village  of  Bloemfontein.     After  considering  the  evidence 

presented,  the 
judges  disagreed, 
and  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  terri- 
tory depended 
upon  the  award 
of  the  referee, 
Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor Keate,  of 
Natal.  This  was 
not  rendered  un- 
til the  1 7th  of  October  following,  and  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  decision  was  hurried  or  improperly  influenced.  But  it  was 

1  "South  Africa,"  Theal. 


The  first  Government  House  and  Buildings  of  the  Colony  of 
Griqualand  West. 


THE    RUSH    TO    KIMBERLEY 


181 


warmly  denounced  as  partial  in  sweeping  aside  the  claims  of  the 
Orange  Free  State  and  the  Transvaal  Republic,  and  confirming 
the  alleged  title  of  Waterboer  and  other  native  chiefs  to  a  tract 
covering  17,800  square  miles,  and  including  the  Dutoitspan, 
Bultfontein,  De  Beers,  and  Kimberley  diamond  mines,  as  well  as 


j^. 


\  ,      I 

s.^i+.^^JfJL**,- 


Sir  Richard  Southey's  Residence,  Kimberley. 

the  diggings  along  the  Vaal.  Four  days  after  this  award  had 
been  made,  Sir  Henry  Barkly  proclaimed  the  grant  to  the  native 
chiefs  a  part  of  the  British  dominions,  as  the  Crown  Colony  of 
Griqualand  West,  which  was  placed  under  the  administration 
of  a  Lieutenant  Governor,  Mr.  Richard  Southey.1  Thus  the 
control  of  the  Diamond  Fields  was  finally  determined,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  doubt  that  this  settlement  was  greatly  contributory 
to  the  extraordinary  advance  of  diamond  mining  in  these  fields, 
as  well  as  to  the  uplifting  and  development  of  the  Colonies,  and 
to  the  push  of  civilization  into  the  heart  of  the  dark  continent. 
It  has  been  contended  that  the  award  was  unjust  to  both 
of  the  Boer  Republics,  and  this  contention  has  been  supported  by 
the  citation  of  a  court  decision  rendered  several  years  later,  and 
the  allowance  of  ^90,000  to  the  Orange  Free  State  by  the  Lon- 
don Convention  of  1876,  in  compensation  for  losses  sustained 
1  "  South  Africa,"  Theal. 


i8i       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

through  the  creation  of  Griqualand  West.  But  it  has  been 
fairly  pointed  out  by  the  leading  historian  of  South  Africa, 
Theal,  an  earnest  supporter  of  the  rights  of  the  Orange  Free 
State  and  her  sister  Republic,  that  the  claims  of  both  contest- 
ants were  weakly  presented  at  the  Bloemfontein  court,  and  that 
Lieutenant  Governor  Keate  cannot  be  reproached  justly  for  any 
conscious  unfairness  in  deciding  the  case  upon  the  evidence 
before  him,  in  a  manner  unsatisfactory  to  the  Republics  on  the 
line  of  the  Vaal. 

There  is,  further,  the  practical  view  to  present  of  the  incor- 
poration of  the  Diamond  Fields  in  Griqualand  West,  —  that  this 
was  the  only  feasible  solution  of  the  situation,  at  that  time, 
which  guaranteed  to  the  irresistible  rush  of  diamond  seekers 
from  the  Cape  and  all  parts  of  the  world  a  government  so 
strong  that  it  could  enforce  its  authority  without  recourse  to 
arms  and  bloodshed.  Klip-drift  had  already  revolted  at  the  first 
preposterous  stretch  of  authority  of  the  South  African  Repub- 
lic, and  maintained  its  independence  until  it  submitted  docilely 
to  the  British  High  Commissioner.  The  seething  influx  on  the 
upland  Diamond  Fields  was  clearly  on  the  verge  of  rebellion 
against  any  Free  State  regulations  restricting  their  right  of 
entry  or  supporting  any  monopoly  title.  Great  Britain,  with 
all  her  array  of  Imperial  power,  would  not  have  ventured  to 
assert  such  claims  as  had  been  set  up  by  both  of  the  Boer 
Republics,  and  could  not  have  enforced  them  without  an  army 
on  the  spot.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  she  prudently  suffered  the 
miners  to  occupy  the  land  without  any  attempt  to  maintain 
crown  reservations  of  mineral  rights,  even  after  her  supremacy 
was  undisputed  through  the  formation  of  the  Crown  Colony. 
The  Boer  Republics,  on  the  other  hand,  would  have  continued 
to  blunder,  almost  certainly,  as  they  had  been  doing,  if  control 
of  the  Fields  had  been  turned  over  to  them  nominally  by  the 
decision  of  the  referee. 

It  did  not  appear  at  that  time,  either,  that  there  was  any 
strong  desire  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  of  these  Republics 
to  assume  the  cost  and  responsibility  and  prospect  of  collision 


THE    RUSH    TO    KIMBERLEY  183 

which  the  supported  assertion  of  control  of  the  Diamond  Fields 
would  have  involved.  The  founders  of  these  states  had  sought 
only  the  plain  homes  of  farmers  and  shepherds  on  the  veld, 
under  a  government  of  their  own  choosing.  Neither  they  nor 
their  children  were  greatly  stirred  by  the  uncovering  of  dia- 
monds, or  the  prospect  of  finding  more  on  their  lands.  They 
disliked  the  spreading  rush  to  the  Diamond  Fields,  even  when 
it  was  presumed  that  their  own  mines  were  developing.  The 
plain,  stolid  farming  folk,  stiffly  set  in  their  old-fashioned  ways, 
had  little  in  common  with  the  sanguine  adventurers,  delighting 
in  stirs  and  surprises  and  novelties.  Baines  tells  a  story  of  the 
mobbing  of  the  first  surveyor  who  tried  to  use  a  theodolite  in 
the  streets  of  Potchefstrom,  instead  of  stepping  off  the  distance 
in  the  good  old  way  of  the  "  veld-valkt-meester."  He  avers, 
too,  that  he  was  himself  made  "  vogel  vrie,"  "  free  as  a  bird  for 
anybody  to  shoot  at,"  for  the  crime  of  concealing  a  sextant 
about  his  person.1  This  may  be  a  fanciful  stretch  of  fact,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  of  the  ingrained  conservatism  of  the  Boers. 
How  could  such  a  people  sympathize  with  the  impetuous  and 
ardent  spirits  that  rushed  to  the  Diamond  Fields,  and  what  pros- 
pect was  there  of  the  docile  submission  of  the  one  to  the  other ! 
It  can  scarcely  be  questioned,  therefore,  by  a  candid  observer 
that  the  conclusion  of  Lieutenant  Governor  Keate  was  the  best 
practical  settlement,  if  not  the  most  impartial  and  accurate. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected,  however,  that  this  significant 
departure  from  the  halting  policy  of  former  ministries,  this  for- 
ward step  of  Greater  Britain  into  the  heart  of  a  region  hitherto 
indifferently  resigned  to  the  migrating  Boers,  should  be  viewed 
with  resignation  by  the  embittered  Republics  whose  claims  were 
disallowed.  Resentment  ran  so  high  in  the  Transvaal  that 
President  Pretorius  was  forced  to  resign.  His  place  was  filled 
by  a  clergyman,  Thomas  Fra^ois  Burgers,  and,  after  the  short 
sharp  war  for  independence  in  1 880-81,  by  Stephen  J.  Paul 
Kruger,  a  marcher  with  the  Great  Trek  from  the  Cape  to  the 
Limpopo,  a  lion  killer  from  boyhood  as  dauntless  as  David, 
1  "  The  Gold  Regions  of  Southeastern  Africa,"  Thomas  Baines. 


184       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

a  crafty  politician  and  a  religious  exhorter,  a  Covenanter  of  the 
Covenanters,  a  Boer  of  the  Boers,  uncouth,  unschooled,  con- 
ceited, bigoted,  grasping,  bristling  with  suspicion  and  prejudice, 
tickled  with  gross  flattery,  but  a  man  of  iron  nerve,  intensely 
loyal  to  his  people  and  their  push  for  independence,  self-contained, 
self-reliant,  bold,  wary,  cunning,  ambitious,  dominating,  fore- 
handed—  masking  his  plans,  biding  his  time,  resolute  in  action, 
and  far-seeing  in  shaping  the  future  of  his  Republic.  In  the  in- 
clusion of  the  precious  diamond-bearing  province  in  Griqualand 
West,  an  inveterate  antagonist  of  British  Imperial  extension  was 
raised  to  power,  whose  keen  forecast  was  almost  able  to  over- 
balance the  impulse  of  this  great  accession  to  the  upbuilding  of 
Greater  Britain  in  South  Africa.1  On  the  coat  of  arms  of  the 
Transvaal  Republic  a  lion  lay  crouching,  ready  to  spring.  From 
the  day  of  Krviger's  rise  to  head  the  Republic,  the  lion  of  the 
Transvaal  has  never  shut  his  eyes  nor  feared  to  show  his  teeth. 

While  this  protracted  controversy  for  the  control  of  the 
Diamond  Fields  was  dragging  on,  the  rush  to  the  diggings  had 
been  spreading  and  moving  from  the  ports  of  Australia,  India, 
and  China ;  from  California,  Canada,  and  the  Eastern  Atlantic 
states  of  the  American  Union  —  from  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
and  the  countries  of  Western  and  Central  Europe ;  from  every 
region  of  the  civilized  world,  at  length,  where  men  of  restless 
and  sanguine  temper  were  living,  who  could  command  the  price 
of  the  passage  to  diamond-bearing  placers,  unmeasured  in  num- 
ber, extent,  and  richness.  The  virgin  fields  of  California  and 
Australia,  once  so  glittering  with  gold  and  so  potent  in  attraction, 
had  lost  their  glamour  with  the  scouring  of  their  sands  and  the 
passing  of  their  novelties.  It  had  been  demonstrated  with  plain, 
cold  figures  and  dismal  accuracy  that  the  average  farmer  was  get- 
ting far  more  from  his  wheat  or  potato  patch  than  the  average 
prospector  from  his  scramble  in  a  gold-field.  But  who  could 
calculate,  or  even  pretend  to  predict  with  any  assurance,  the  pros- 

1  "South  Africa,"  Theal.  "Impressions  of  South  Africa,"  James  Bryce. 
"  The  Story  of  South  Africa,"  William  Basil  Worsfold.  "  Cecil  John  Rhodes," 
Biography,  "  Imperialist." 


STEPHEN   J.    PAUL   KROGER. 
(From  a  Photograph  taken  at  Kimberley,  1884.) 


186       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

pect  of  fortune  in  this  African  wonderland,  so  phenomenal  in 
character  and  so  slightly  explored  !  Here  was  a  strange,  luring 
beacon  in  the  heart  of  traditional  Ophir,  where  river  banks  were 
apparently  lined  with  diamonds,  where  diamonds  were  strewn 
on  the  face  of  farms,  where  children  had  diamonds  to  roll  like 
marbles,  where  wells  were  driven  through  diamond  beds,  and 
huts  were  plastered  with  diamond-studded  cement.  Who  would 
not  rush  to  a  region  so  sparkling  in  promise,  so  embalmed  in 
traditions  of  resplendent  empire,  where  another  Koh-i-nur  might 
be  lying  in  wait  in  the  dust  for  the  first  passer-by,  and  where  a 
lucky  adventurer  might  stuff  his  pockets  with  gems  far  surpass- 
ing the  hoard  of  any  extortionate  nabob,  and  return  home  with 
a  treasure  that  he  could  carry  as  lightly  as  a  full  purse  ! 

The  river  placers  had  not  drawn  largely  outside  of  the  south- 
ern African  colonies,  but  the  discoveries  at  Dutoitspan,  Bultfon- 
tein,  De  Beers,  and  Kimberley  were  so  unexampled,  and  the 
mines  on  the  surface  were  soon  shown  to  be  so  marvellous, 
that  their  magnetic  attraction  was  felt  all  over  the  globe.  Who 
can  wonder,  then,  that  the  flying,  inflated,  distorted  rumors 
from  this  African  hot-bed  puffed  up  ardent  fancy  everywhere  as 
tongues  of  flames  in  tinder,  and  that  men  of  all  nations,  call- 
ings, and  characters  were  swept  along  in  the  rush  to  the  South 
African  Diamond  Fields  !  Every  sailing  ship  or  steamer  that  was 
bound  for  a  South  African  port  from  any  part  of  the  world, 
in  1871,  bore  some  adventurers  to  the  new  fields.  Some 
had  good  outfits  and  supplies  of  money,  while  others  had  barely 
been  able  to  scrape  together  their  passage  costs.  The  seamen 
on  the  ship  caught  the  infectious  diamond  fever,  and  ran  away 
when  the  vessels  were  moored  on  the  African  coast,  as  their 
mates  had  done,  years  before,  in  the  ports  of  California  and  Aus- 
tralia. Nothing  but  actual  bonds  could  hold  back  the  diamond 
seekers,  and  these  would  not  serve  if  there  was  any  chance  to 
cut  cords  and  break  irons. 

The  swarming  of  adventurers  over  mountain  terraces,  veld, 
and  karoo  was  more  motley  and  ardent  than  the  first  rush  to  the 
Vaal,  and  every  one  was  consumed  by  the  fear  that  others  ahead 


THE    RUSH    TO    KIMBERLEY  187 

of  him  were  dividing  up  the  rich  ground  and  a  day's  delay  might 
cost  him  a  fortune.  So  never  before  was  there  such  a  scurrying, 
reckless  of  lagging  ox-teams  and  horses,  blazing  suns,  and  blind- 
ing dust.  What  a  fuming  there  was,  too,  on  the  river  banks 
when  the  sudden  floods  halted  the  rush  with  their  impassable 
torrents,  and  the  pilgrims  on  nettles  watched  the  yellow  water 
run  surging,  swirling,  and  whirling  between  them  and  their  goal  ! 
Most  of  the  adventurers  still  plodded  along  with  their  bul- 
lock wagons,  but  some  who  could  afford  to  pay  roundly  (.£12) 
for  transport  were  carried  to  the  Diamond  Fields  by  the  wagons 
of  the  Inland  Transport  Company,  an  enterprising  association 


Coach  leaving  Kimberley  for  the  Coast,  1875. 

which  undertook  to  run  a  regular  coach-line  to  the  Vaal  from 
Wellington,  the  terminus  of  the  short  Cape  railway  in  1870. 
The  carriage  was  a  long,  narrow  wagon  with  five  rows  of  seats 
for  fourteen  passengers  and  a  driver.  Only  forty  pounds  of 
baggage  could  be  carried  by  a  passenger,  but  men  who  were 
anxious  to  reach  the  mines  were  ready  to  start  without  even  a 
shift  of  shirts.  Eight  wiry  horses  dragged  this  rattling  wagon 
over  the  rough  track  at  a  lively  rate,  changing  teams  at  relay  sta- 
tions, from  thirty  to  forty  miles  apart,  and  making  the  trip  to  the 
Vaal  in  eight  or  nine  days  when  the  way  was  not  blocked  by 
floods.  By  this  stride  of  progress  the  journey  from  Cape  Town 
was  made  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  the  time  required  by  the 
crawling  ox-wagons  from  the  other  coast  ports,  although  these 


1 88       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

towns  were  two  hundred  miles  nearer  the  Diamond  Fields.  This 
was  proudly  noted  as  an  advance  of  rapid  transit,  which  prom- 
ised greater  developments,  and  was  one  of  the  many  stirring 
impulses  of  the  diamond  discoveries.  But  as  only  one  stage- 
coach started  weekly  from  Wellington,  the  chief  contribution  of 
the  new  line  to  South  Africa  lay  in  its  promise  rather  than  its 
performance.1  It  was  the  first  push  of  the  enterprise  which  has 
followed  its  hoof  tracks  through  the  African  desert  with  the  tire- 
less race  of  the  iron  horse. 

While  this  swarm  was  gathering  from  India,  Australia, 
Europe,  and  America,  and  pressing  toward  the  diamond  mines 
through  the  southern  Colonial  ports,  another  swarm  was  enter- 
ing the  fields  from  inland  Africa.  To  the  native  tribesmen  the 
opening  of  the  diamond  mines  was  a  certain  Golconda.  For  the 
shovelling  of  gravel  under  a  burning  sun,  for  the  heaving  of 
boulders,  for  the  shaking  of  cradles  in  the  midst  of  whirling  dust, 
for  the  quarrying  in  pits  and  the  scraping  on  sorting  tables,— 
the  wiry  sinews,  pliant  muscles,  nimble  fingers,  and  sharp  eyes  of 
Africans,  inured  to  the  scorch  of  the  sun,  the  pelt  of  the  rain, 
and  the  blast  of  the  sand,  were  greatly  serviceable.  So  there  was 
a  cordial  greeting  of  the  influx  of  natives,  ready  to  work  for  the 
barest  pittance  of  pay  while  their  masters  lolled  in  the  shade. 

First  came  the  neighboring  Griquas,  Koranas,  and  Batlapins, 
with  Basutos  from  their  southern  reservation,  followed  by  a 
stream  of  Zulus,  Mahowas,  Malakakas,  and  Hottentots,  and 
Kafirs  of  one  hundred  tribes,  ranging  east  to  the  Indian  Ocean 
and  far  northwest  into  Namaqua  and  Bechuana  lands  and  north- 
east into  Matabeleland  and  the  regions  lying  beyond  the  Limpopo 
and  the  Zambesi.2  There  was  every  shade  of  dusky  color  in  this 
throng,  from  livid  and  tawny  yellow  to  jet  black.  Some  stalked 
proudly  over  the  veld  in  the  full  plumage  of  the  Zulu  veteran, 
with  flowing  ox-tail  girdles,  armlets,  and  anklets,  decked  with 

1  "Among  the  Diamonds,"   1870-1871. 

2  "  The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.      "South  Afri- 
can Diamond  Fields  and  Journey  to  Mines,"  William  James  Morton,  M.D.,  New 
York,  1877. 


THE    RUSH   TO    KIMBERLEY  189 

waving  feathers  and  gleaming  earrings  and  bracelets.  Others 
vied  with  this  show  in  greasy  red  shakos,  faded  blouses,  and  other 
cast-off  equipments  of  soldiers  and  hunters.  So  the  parade  ran 
down  to  the  barest  loin  cloth  or  utter  nakedness,  through  leopard 
skin  wraps,  dirty  karosses,  ragged  breeches,  tattered  shirts,  and 
every  other  meagre  covering  of  the  native  hunter  or  shepherd. 
Some  of  this  drift  to  the  mines  tramped  more  than  a  thousand 
miles  over  mountain  ridges  and  sun-scorched  veld,  swimming 
through  rivers,  scrambling  down  steep  ravines,  and  plunging  deep 
in  mud  and  desert  sand,  to  reach  their  goal,  as  many  did,  gaunt 
skeletons  of  men,  with  bleeding  feet,  and  bodies  scratched  and 
sore  and  tottering  with  weariness  and  hunger.1 

Diamonds  were  no  temptation  to  them.  They  would  not 
have  walked  a  mile  to  pick  up  a  Koh-5-nur.  But  the  white  dia- 
mond seekers  were  willing  to  pay,  for  a  few  months'  hunting  for 
little  white  pebbles,  enough  to  buy  a  cheap  gun  and  a  bag  of 
powder  and  balls  —  most  precious  of  all  earthly  things  in  the 
eyes  of  a  roving  African.  Then  the  white  camps  were  lively, 
humming  social  resorts,  abounding  with  good  food  and  tempting 
drink,  where  black  men  were  welcome  and  well  protected.  So 
the  natives  swarmed  in  faster  and  faster  as  the  mining  progressed 
and  the  news  spread  to  distant  regions.  Some  of  this  swarm  could 
be  persuaded  to  remain  at  the  mines  for  a  year  or  more  and  work 
quite  steadily  ;  but  most  drifted  away,  at  the  end  of  a  few  months, 
or  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  get  their  coveted  guns  and  powder 
pouches.  Thus  while  many  thousands  flocked  yearly  to  the  Fields 
from  their  opening,  the  outflow  kept  the  supply  from  swamping 
the  demand.  As  this  influx  from  the  dark  continent  met  and 
mingled  with  the  rush  from  the  outside  world  in  the  diamond- 
mine  workings  and  camps,  how  greatly  vivid,  unique,  and  stir- 
ring were  the  kaleidoscopic  shifts  of  this  strange  concourse ! 
Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  America  had  boiled  over  into  a  hotch- 
potch, splashed  on  a  diamond  bed  in  the  heart  of  South  Africa. 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Pay  ton,  1872.  "South  Afri- 
can Diamond  Fields  and  Journey  to  Mines,"  William  James  Morton,  M.D.,  New 
York,  1877. 


CHAPTER   VII 


THE    GREAT    WHITE    CAMPS 


OW  quickly  and  marvellously  was  the  face  of 
the  little  South  African  stock  farms  transformed 
by  this  influx  !  Open  pasture  land,  where  the 
eye  saw  one  day  only  a  few  scattered  cattle 
browsing  on  the  thin  grass  and  scratching  their 
sides  against  a  stunted  camelthorn,  was  covered 
next  day  by  swarms  of  roving  prospectors,  with  shovels  and 
sieves,  upturning  grass  roots  and  shaking  dry  earth  through 
their  screens.  White  canvas  camps,  foaming  with  life,  rose  in  a 


Kimberley,  before  the  Discovery  of  Diamonds. 

night,  with  the  seeming  magic  of  Aladdin's  palace,  at  the  foot  of 
kopjes  where,  before,  a  burrowing  meerkat  was  the  only  tenant. 
Beyond  the  masses  of  tents  ranged  long  straggling  arches  of 
wagon  tops  and  tethered  troops  of  bullocks,  horses,  and  mules. 

190 


THE    GREAT   WHITE   CAMPS 


191 


Only  a  few  months  from  the  day  when  the  first  diamond  was 
picked  up  near  du  Toit's  pan,  the  camp  at  Dorstfontein  was 
proudly  claiming  the  title  of  the  "  City  of  the  Pan."  A  spacious 
market  square  was  laid  out  on  the  ground  between  the  pan 


Dutoitspan.     (From  a  very  early  Photograph.) 

and  the  ridge  covered  with  diamond  diggers,  and  around  this 
square  were  ranged  the  white  walls  of  the  aspiring  camp. 
Streets  radiating  from  the  central  square  gave  open  access  to  the 
market-place,  and  the  white  tent  blocks  were  soon  dotted  near 
the  square  with  shops  of  brick  and  iron  and  wood,  rivalling  the 
pioneer  diamond-digging  town  of  Klip-drift  on  the  Vaal.1 

Klip-drift  struggled  on  with  the  best  face  possible,  making 
much  of  its  position  of  vantage  as  the  distributing  market  of  all 
camp  supplies  from  the  South  African  Republic ;  but  its  day  of 
ascendancy  soon  flitted  away  never  to  return.  In  September, 
1871,  its  chief  standard-bearer,  the  Diamond  News,  moved  to 
the  "  City  of  the  Pan,"  and  there  was  no  question  from  that  time 
of  the  preeminence  of  the  "  dry  diggings,"  although  a  rival 
paper,  the  Diamond  Field,  bore  up  for  a  time  under  the  sinking 
fortunes  of  Klip-drift.  Before  the  end  of  the  year  1871, 
Dutoitspan  boasted  "  many  large  hotels,"  "  immense  stores," 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Charles  Alfred  Pay  ton,  London, 
1872. 


192      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


THE    GREAT   WHITE   CAMPS 


'93 


two  churches,  a  hospital,  and  a  theatre,  and  might  have  men- 
tioned, besides,  its  less  distinguished  billiard  room,  "canteens," 
and  dance  halls.1  It  was  surely  a  wonderful  birth  of  a  smartly 
growing  infant  city  on  the  face  of  scrub-covered  prairie  in  the 
heart  of  South  Africa. 

The  rise  of  the  camps  at  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  was  even 
more  rapid  than  the  growth  of  the  camp  on  Dorstfontein  and 
Bultfontein  farms.  There  was  no  regular  working  in  the  De 
Beers  diggings  before  May,  1871,  but  the  diggers  could  buy 


Kimberley,  1871. 

Christmas  presents  that  year  in  rows  of  brick  and  iron  stores 
on  the  main  roadsides,  intermingled  with  "  hotels  "  and  saloons, 
and  a  great  white  canvas  town  was  spread  out  in  a  picturesque 
medley  of  tents  and  marquees,  straggling  far  over  the  veld,  and 
seeking  the  shelter  of  some  stubbornly  rooted  mimosa  or  camel- 
thorn.2  Kimberley's  growth  was  still  more  surprising.  Three 
months  after  the  rush  began,  the  Colesberg  Kopje  was  the  centre 
of  an  immense  encampment  in  whose  heart  streets  were  irregularly 
laid  out,  and  neat  stores  built  of  iron  and  brick.  In  December, 
1871,  there  were,  by  actual  count,  on  the  lower  street  of  Kim- 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.  -  Hid. 

o 


194      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

berley,  six   stores,  four   hotels,  and   several   butcher  and  shoe- 
maker shops,  besides  a  billiard  room  and  saloon.     On  the  upper 


Kimberley  Mine,  1871. 

or  main  street  there  were  three  hotels,  several  diamond  merchants' 
offices,  a  wholesale  spirit  and  provision  store,  a  bakery  and  con- 
fectioner's shop,  a  drug  dispensary,  butchers'  shops,  eating  houses, 
bars,  club  and  billiard  rooms,  and  other  miscellaneous  shops  and 
resorts.  On  the  edge  of  these  white-walled  cities,  and  on  the 
slopes  of  all  the  neighboring  hills,  were  scattered  the  huts  of  wood 
or  dirty  canvas  or  mud-plastered  stones,  where  the  native  blacks 
huddled  together.  When  even  this  cover  was  lacking,  some 
slept  in  tents,  or  in  burrows  scraped  in  the  hillsides.  How  many 
diamond  seekers  were  massed  in  these  camps  at  the  height  of 
the  rush  can  hardly  be  reckoned  with  any  approach  to  exactness. 
There  may  have  been  fifty  thousand  whites  and  blacks  on  the 
Fields,  for  the  flow  to  Dutoitspan  is  said  to  have  mounted  as  high 
as  forty  thousand  shortly  after  the  opening  of  the  Vooruitzigt 
farm  mines. 


THE    GREAT   WHITE   CAMPS  195 

When,  after  long  weeks  of  plodding  over  rugged  mountain 
ranges,  parched  karoos,  and  rolling  prairie,  a  traveller  suddenly 
saw  rising  before  him  these  white  camps,  springing  up  like  pro- 
digious mushrooms  in  an  African  desert,  even  the  dullest  brain 
was  strangely  disturbed.  It  was  hard  to  realize  that  these  exotic 
plants  were  the  work  of  men's  hands,  for  they  seemed  rather  the 
fantastic  conceit  of  the  trance  of  an  opium  eater.  Here  were 
such  cities  as  the  mirage  shapes  from  clouds  or  as  Solomon 
might  have  built  with  the  help  of  his  docile  genii.  When  they 
lay  outstretched  and  gleaming  under  the  burning  sun  in  the 
full  splendor  of  noon,  they  were  weird  creations  to  amaze  the 
beholder ;  but  who  can  conceive  their  impress  at  night,  under 
the  towering  sky  dome  sprinkled  with  stars,  with  their  masses  of 


Around  Kimberley  Mine,  1871. 

twinkling  and  sparkling  lights  on  the  black  face  of  the  veld,  like 
the  tail  of  a  fallen  comet.1 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.  "To  the  Cape 
for  Diamonds,"  Frederick  Boyle,  1873.  "South  African  Diamond  Fields,"  Will- 
iam Jacob  Morton,  1877. 


196      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Outside  of  these  three  main  camps  tents  were  thickly 
sprinkled  around  the  farmhouse  of  Bultfontein,  in  a  field  where 
a  thousand  diggers  were  at  work  in  the  first  week  of  the  rush, 
after  the  ground  was  opened  in  May,  1871.  Immediately  south 
of  this  diamond-bearing  farm  was  the  farm  Alexandersfontein, 
where  many  prospectors  were  also  turning  and  sifting  the  ground. 
By  the  determination  of  the  limits  of  Griqualand  West  these 
diggings,  as  well  as  the  chief  camps,  became  part  of  the  British 
Colonial  domain ;  for  the  boundary  line  separating  the  new  Col- 
ony from  the  Orange  Free  State  ran  just  outside  of  this  cluster 
of  farms,  Vooruitzigt,  Dorstfontein,  Bultfontein,  and  Alexan- 
dersfontein, —  through  the  outlying  farm  of  Benaauwdheids- 
fontein,  where  no  diamond  mine  had,  as  yet,  been  discovered.1 
So  all  the  known  diamond  fields  of  South  Africa,  except  the 
Jagersfontein  farm  within  the  bounds  of  the  Orange  Free  State 
and  the  shallow  Vaal  River  placers,  were  bunched  on  a  plateau 
four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level,  within  the  angle  formed 
by  the  junction  of  the  Vaal  with  the  Orange  River,  on  a  patch 
with  a  radius  of  1.72  miles  at  the  crossing  of  longitude  24°  46' 
east  of  Greenwich  with  latitude  28°  43'  south  of  the  equator. 

The  London  and  South  African  Exploration  Company,  by 
its  purchase  of  Dorstfontein,  Bultfontein,  and  Alexandersfontein, 
held  a  tight  grip  on  the  mineral  rights  comprehending  the  dia- 
monds on  all  these  farms,  and  leased  the  surface  diggings  under 
licenses  of  IQJ.  for  every  claim  30  feet  square.  Messrs.  Dunell, 
Ebden  &  Co.,  of  Port  Elizabeth,  held  the  farm  of  Vooruitzigt, 
and  exacted  the  same  license  fee  for  working  claims  which  were 
laid  out  in  squares  30  by  30  Dutch  feet,  or  3  i  by  3 1  English 
feet.2  Outside  of  the  Colesberg  Kopje  or  Kimberley  mine  all 
the  diggings  were  at  first  a  jumble  of  holes,  pits,  and  burrows, 
with  no  attempt  to  secure  any  system  or  union  in  mining.  But 
the  objections  to  this  helter-skelter  opening  of  the  ground  were 
so  apparent  that  a  strict  reservation  of  roadways  to  give  access 
to  all  parts  of  the  surface  of  the  mine  was  insisted  upon  by  the 

1  "Diamonds  and  Gold  in  South  Africa,"  Theodore  Reunert,  1893. 

2  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 


THE    GREAT   WHITE    CAMPS 


197 


Orange  Free  State  Inspector  of  Mines,  in  the  laying  out  of 
claims  on  the  Colesberg  Kopje.  His  authority  was  then  so  far 
recognized  that  his  direction  controlled  the  survey  and  opening, 
on  July  21,  1871,  of  the  diggings  since  famous  as  the  Kimberley 
Diamond  Mine. 

Roadways,  15  feet  in  width,  running  approximately  north 
and  south,  were  carried  across  the  longer  axis  of  the  diamond 
bed,  at  a  distance  of  47  feet  from  one  to  the  other.  Kach  road 
cut  7.',  feet  of  surface  ground  from  the  side  of  the  bordering 


Kimberley  Mine,  1872. 

claims,  so  that  the  working  surface  of  each  allotted  claim  was 
31  by  23^  feet.  Fourteen  of  these  roadways  crossed  the  mine, 
whose  ground  surface  permitted  the  laying  out  of  about  430 
claims  of  the  allotted  size,  3 1  feet  square.  A  great  many  more 
claims  had  been  granted  to  license-holders  before  the  survey, 
for  there  had  been  no  accurate  measurement  of  the  kopje,  and 
there  was  a  consequent  overlapping  and  conflict  of  locations  and 
spreading  of  claims  beyond  the  limits  of  the  diamond-bearing 
ground.  In  the  settlement  of  contests  the  claims  were  split  up 
by  concessions,  bargains,  and  sales,  until  there  were  not  less  than 
1600  separate  holdings  of  claims,  and  fractional  parts  running  as 
small  as  -3^,  or  about  7  square  yards.  A  lucky  claim-holder 


198       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

would  sell  off  parts  of  his  claim  or  the  whole  at  high  prices;  for 
bidders  were  ready  to  pay  large  premiums  beyond  the  license 
fee  of  los.  exacted  from  every  working  owner,  whether  his  claim 
was  full  size  or  a  paring.  The  competition  for  a  share  in  the 
riches  of  the  ground  was  only  less  keen  at  De  Beers,  and  there 
was  a  like  subdivision  of  claims  there,  and  not  infrequently  at 
Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein.1 

It  was  obvious  from  the  start,  without  any  stretch  of  fore- 
sight, that  these  minute  subdivisions  of  claims  and  individual 
working  were  only  practicable  in  open  cuttings  whose  depth 
must  depend  on  the  character  of  the  ground  and  the  cooperation 
of  the  miners.  But  at  the  outset  of  the  mining  in  these  Fields 
no  one  could  forecast  the  unknown  continuance  in  depth  of  the 
diamond  deposits,  and  few  supposed  that  the  new  beds  differed 
essentially  from  any  before  uncovered,  and  were  vastly  more  im- 
portant than  the  shallow  gravel  wash  along  the  banks  of  the 
Vaal.  It  was  commonly  expected  that  some  barren  stratum 
would  be  reached  not  far  from  the  surface,  corresponding  to  the 
"  bed  rock  "  of  the  river  diggings,  and  that  this  must  terminate 
the  hope  of  the  diamond  seekers.2  So  the  rush  for  the  surface 
claims  was  the  keener,  in  view  of  the  belief  that  a  few  months' 
work  at  most  would  exhaust  the  precious  deposit,  and  nobody 
paused  to  consider  what  he  would  do  if  he  was  unable  to  sink 
an  open  pit  deeper. 

Beneath  the  red  surface  soil  at  Dutoitspan  a  thin  layer  of 
calcareous  tufa3  had  been  exposed,  below  which  lay  the  dia- 
mond-bearing breccia  which  the  miners  called  "  yellow  ground  " 
from  its  prevailing  color.4  At  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  there 
was  comparatively  little  limestone  beneath  the  red  soil,  for  the 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,   1872.          2  Ibid. 

3  I  look  upon  the  calcareous  tufa  which  covered  the  diamond  mines  as  only 
the  altered   yellow  ground  which  had  been  metamorphosed  by  the  evaporation  of 
water  highly  charged  with  carbonate  of  lime.       The  calcareous  tufa  which  covered 
the   Premier   mine  was  diamond    bearing.       This  is  the   only  one   of  the   mines 
whose  surface  ground  has  come  under  my  personal  observation. 

4  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 


THE   GREAT   WHITE   CAMPS  199 

rich  "  yellow  ground  "  rose  nearly  to  the  surface  under  a  thin 
coating  of  chalk.  It  appeared  in  exploring  the  yellow  ground  in 
most  of  the  openings  that  the  deposit  was  enclosed  in  an  oval- 
shaped  funnel  of  shale,  or  decomposed  basalt  resting  on  shale, 
which  the  miners  called  "  reef."  This  reef  contained  no  dia- 
monds and  marked  the  limits  of  any  profitable  prospecting. 
The  surface  area  of  the  yellow  ground  within  one  of  these  fun- 
nels ranged  from  about  ten  acres  at  Kimberley  to  twenty-three 
acres  at  Dutoitspan,  and  on  these  patches  all  the  diamond-bearing 
claims  of  the  Fields  were  located.1 

When  the  bottom  of  the  "  yellow  ground  "  was  reached  at  a 
depth  of  from  fifty  to  sixty  feet  below  the  surface,  it  was  sup- 
posed at  first  that  diamond  digging  in  the  funnels  had  come  to 
an  end ;  but  the  hard  underlying  rock  was  cut  by  experi- 
menters, and  it  was  found,  to  the  delight  of  the  miners,  that 
this  also  was  diamond  bearing.  It  was  a  breccia  composite, 
essentially  like  the  "  yellow  ground "  above,  but  much  more 
compact  and  hard,  and  of  a  prevailing  bluish  slate  color,  so 
that  it  was  familiarly  known  as  "  blue  ground."  Exposure  to 
the  air,  sun,  and  rain  decomposed  it  so  rapidly  that  most  of  the 
rock  could  be  readily  pulverized  after  a  few  weeks,  and  its 
precious  contents  extracted  by  sifting.  The  whole  mass  of  the 
ground  in  the  funnels  was  diamond-bearing,  in  greater  or  less 
extent,  except  in  occasional  streaks  and  masses  of  barren  shale, 
floating  reef,  floating  shale,  or  non-diamond-bearing  volcanic 
mud,  and  volcanic  rocks.  So  the  pit  sinking  was  widened  to 
the  extreme  limits  of  the  claims,  and  the  entire  area  of  yellow 
and  blue  ground  excavated  in  open  quarries. 

The  work  was  pushed  with  feverish  energy  and  remarkable 
rapidity  in  view  of  the  bare  hand  labor  and  crude  mining  appli- 
ances, but  there  was  no  uniformity  of  method  or  extended 
cooperation.  Every  claim-holder  cut  down  his  patch  with  pick 
and  shovel,  and  lifted  the  broken  ground  in  a  way  that  suited 
his  individual  notion.  Some  set  stout  windlasses  in  the  surface 
ground  near  the  edge  of  their  claims,  and  hoisted  buckets  filled 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.          2  Ibid. 


200      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


THE    GREAT   WHITE    CAMPS  201 

on  the  working  levels.  Others  carried  up  buckets  and  tubs 
and  rawhide  sacks  to  the  surface,  climbing  ladders  resting  on 
successive  terraces,  or  mounting  flights  of  steps  cut  in  the  rock, 
or  trundling  wheelbarrows  up  plank  inclines.  Around  the  edge 
of  the  mines  there  was  a  mustering  of  carts,  and  barrows,  and 
carriers,  to  bear  off  the  quarried  ground  to  depositing  places, 
where  it  was  dried,  pounded,  and  sifted.1 

The  open  quarries,  swarming  with  workers,  buzzed  like  pro- 
digious beehives.  The  upsetting  of  the  tower  of  Babel  would 
scarcely  have  poured  out  such  a  medley  of  tongues  and  sounds. 
From  the  vast  amphitheatres  scooped  in  the  rock  there  rose  in 
the  air  the  clicking  of  picks,  the  rasp  and  clatter  of  shovels,  the 
cracking  of  rock,  the  rattle  of  gravel,  the  thud  of  bucket-filling, 
the  creaking  of  windlasses,  the  tramp  over  planks,  the  thump  of 
wheelbarrows,  the  rolling  of  carts,  the  lowing  of  bullocks  and 
braying  of  mules,  mingled  with  calls  and  chatter  and  chants 
of  whites  and  blacks  in  an  indescribable  din.  Diggers  in  rough 
working  dress,  and  natives  almost  stark  naked,  bent  and  heaved, 
and  scrambled  and  climbed,  side  by  side,  reeking  with  sweat 
and  grime,  in  an  ever  shifting,  restless  swarm  that  covered  the 
face  of  the  quarry  like  flies  in  some  monstrous  sugar  bowl.  The 
flocking  in  of  the  native  African  tribes  — joined  with  the  white 
diamond  seekers  in  opening  the  strange  funnels  of  crystal- 
sprinkled  breccia  —  made  a  compound  of  color,  feature,  and 
character  never  before  assembled  in  any  mines  on  the  face  of 
the  earth.2  The  sinewy  negroes  proved  themselves  such  willing 
and  sturdy  workers  in  the  dust  and  heat  of  the  sun-scorched 
quarries,  that  the  claim-holders  were  glad  to  hire  them  and 
confine  their  own  work  to  the  task  of  overseers,  directing  the 
digging  and  hauling,  and  the  sifting  and  sorting.  No  blaze  of 
the  sun  and  no  whirl  of  the  dust  could  subdue  their  bubbling 
spirits,  breaking  out  in  wild  whoops  and  chants,  and  yelling  in 
pack  when  any  big  diamond  was  found,  revelling  in  every 
chance  diversion,  —  the  fall  of  a  bucket,  the  slip  of  a  ladder,  the 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.  "South  Afri- 
can Diamond  Fields,"  Morton,  1877.  2  Ibid. 


202       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


THE    GREAT   WHITE   CAMPS  203 

tumble  of  a  climber,  and  convulsed  with  laughter  whenever  they 
could  set  mules  capering,  or  bullocks  shying  or  balking  by  shrill 
whistles  and  screams,  and  mimicry  of  a  driver's  call:  "Yek!" 
and  "  Trek  !  "  "  Ah  now  !  "  and  "  Whoa  !  "  and  so  through  the 
range  of  cries,  Dutch,  English,  and  African.1 

Almost  all  the  natives  were  barefooted,  and  most  were  bare- 
headed, barebacked,  and  barelegged,  except  in  the  coldest  weather. 
Some  had  ragged  trousers,  and  others  ragged  shirts,  but  few  put 
both  on  together.  A  greasy,  gaudy  handkerchief  twisted  around 


Kimberley  Mine,  1872. 

a  black  head,  and  party-colored  bunches  of  rags,  or  moochies 
made  of  the  tails  or  skins  of  wild  animals,  dangling  from  a  waist- 
belt  of  rawhide,  were  a  camp  parade  dress  too  precious  to  use 
in  the  quarries.  Mingled  with  these  wild  Africans,  the  white 
miners  worked  soberly  and  arduously,  bearing  the  pains  of 
diamond  digging  stoically,  in  the  hope  of  its  rewards.  Their 
working  clothes  were  commonly  plain  suits  of  brown  corduroy 
or  other  coarse  cloth  adapted  to  the  season,  and  when  the  sun 
shone  they  wore  generally  broad-brimmed  straw  hats,  or  pith 
helmets,  with  light  muslin  "  puggarees."  2 

It  was  long  before  there  was  any  notable  advance  in  the  pro- 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.          2  Hid. 


204      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

cess  of  separation  of  the  diamonds  from  the  ground,  beyond  the 
cradle  for  dry  sifting,  constructed  to  take  the  place  of  the  com- 
mon hand-sieve  at  Dutoitspan.  Level  spots  were  sought  on 
the  veld  near  the  mines,  or  patches  of  ground  were  levelled 
sufficiently  to  serve  as  dumping  places,  where  the  broken  dia- 
mond-bearing breccia  was  piled  and  spread  out.  The  "blue 
ground  "  exposed  to  the  air  crumbled  away  by  degrees,  but  the 
miners  were  rarely  patient  enough  to  wait  for  this  disintegration, 
preferring  quick  returns  by  pulverizing  the  ground  with  their 
shovels  and  mallets.  This  was  hard  work  and  costly,  from  the 
loss  in  imperfect  pulverization.  But  the  diamond  seekers  were 


Roads  in  Kimberley  Mine,  1871-1872. 

poor  men  who  could  scarcely  afford  to  hold  any  stock  of  blue 
ground  for  the  sake  of  increased  returns,  even  if  they  had  been 
able  to  guard  their  depositing  floors  from  theft.  After  pound- 
ing the  broken  rock  it  was  sifted  in  the  midst  of  dust  clouds  by 
rockers  swung  on  riems  of  rawhide,  and  the  concentrate  was 
then  scraped  over  and  sorted.1  In  July,  1871,  a  large  cylindri- 
cal revolving  sieve,  driven  by  a  small  steam  engine,  was  put  at 
work  by  some  American  miners,  and  this  sifting  machine  was 
said  to  be  an  efficient  and  rapid  separator.  The  pulverized 
ground  was  thrown  into  the  upper  end  of  the  screen,  which  was 

1  "South  African  Diamond  Fields,"  Morton,  1877.      "Diamonds  and  Gold 
in  South  Africa,"  Reunert,  1893. 


THE    GREAT   WHITE   CAMPS 


205 


rapidly  revolved,  and  the  concentrate  passed  out  through  the 
lower  end,  falling  upon  a  sorting  table.  The  cylinder,  covered 
with  fine  wire  mesh,  sifted  out  the  dust  thoroughly,  and  its  opera- 
tion was  so  rapid  that  thirty  cartloads  of  diamond-bearing  ground 
were  screened  daily.  Its  owners  claimed  to  be  able  to  sift  all 
the  ground  in  a  claim  thirty  feet  square  to  a  uniform  depth  of 
thirty  feet  in  three  weeks.  The  machine  attracted  a  curious 
crowd  at  first,  when  the  steam  whistle  blew  off  and  the  cylinder 
began  to  throw  off  thick  clouds  of  dust,  but  for  some  reason  its 


Kimberley  Mine.     (Showing  workings  in  1872.    Subsidence  cracks  appear  in  the  foreground.) 

use  was  not  long  continued.  Probably  the  fine  mesh  was  too 
light  to  bear  the  strain  and  friction  of  the  revolving  rock 
fragments.1 

The  amount  of  ground  which  any  one  man  could  work,  was, 
of  course,  very  small,  but  there  were  so  many  workers  on  the 
Fields  that  the  aggregate  extent  of  ground  sifted  was  enormous, 
and  the  breccia  in  spots  was  so  thickly  sprinkled  with  crystals 
that  many  miners  won  rich  rewards.  When  Payton  was  leav- 
ing the  field  in  November,  1871,  it  was  estimated  that  from 
forty  to  fifty  thousand  pounds'  worth  of  diamonds  were  taken 
1  "  The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 


206      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

weekly  from  the  Colesberg  Kopje  alone,  and  he  states  that  the 
best  claims  had  risen  in  value  from  ^100  or  less  to  ^4000^ 

It  was  clearly  shown,  too,  that  even  the  highest  price  paid 
for  a  claim  might  be  cheap,  for  one  poor  Dutchman,  "  Smuts," 
who  bought  half  a  claim  for  ^50,  is  said  to  have  found  dia- 
monds in  two  months'  working  to  the  value  of  ^£1 5,000  or 
more.  Another  digger  found,  in  a  few  months,  no  less  than 
730  stones  in  his  claim,  one  of  which  weighed  156  carats.2 
Such  great  good  fortune  was  rare  in  the  other  mines,  and  many 
miners  won  little  or  nothing  from  months  of  hard  work  in  their 
claims,  but  in  the  Colesberg  Kopje,  or  Kimberley  mine,  the 
prizes  were  so  common  and  exciting  that  every  foot  of  ground 
was  covered  by  diamond  seekers.  When  the  rubbing  of  shoul- 
ders was  too  close  for  comfort,  one  or  more  of  the  partners  in 
a  claim  would  be  pressed  to  sell  out  and  start  again  prospect- 
ing. Sometimes  a  share  in  a  claim,  worth  many  hundreds  of 
pounds,  would  be  risked  on  the  toss  of  a  penny.8 

In  the  heat  of  the  search  and  extraction  many  fine  diamonds 
were  fractured,  and  many  of  the  smaller  stones  ran  through  the 
sieves  into  the  tailings,  as  was  afterward  demonstrated  when 
the  waste  heaps  were  reworked  with  better  appliances.4  The 
Kimberley  mine  produced  some  stones  of  large  size,  running 
sometimes  over  one  hundred  carats,  but  the  mass  of  crystals  ran 
under  five  carats.  A  yellowish  tinge  was  more  marked  in  the 
diamonds  of  the  uplands  than  in  the  river  stones,  and  many 
otherwise  superb  crystals  were  so  decidedly  "  off  color  "  that 
their  value  was  greatly  impaired. 

It  was  early  noticed  that  the  diamonds  of  one  mine  often 
differed  materially  from  those  of  another,  and  even  in  the  same 
mine  diamonds  of  one  section  were  unlike  the  yield  of  another. 
Thus,  in  the  west  end  of  the  Kimberley  mine  the  diamond  crys- 
tals were  exceptionally  perfect  octahedrons,  or  exceptionally  white 
"  glassy  stones,"  as  the  miners  called  them  ;  while  elsewhere  in 
the  mine  the  crystals  had,more  commonly, rounded  and  bevelled 

1  "  The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.      *  Ibid.      *  Ibid. 
4  "Diamonds  and  Gold  in  South  Africa,"  Reunert,  1893. 


THE    GREAT    WHITE   CAMPS 


207 


ao8      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Kimberley  Mine, 

edges,  and,  more  or  less, a  yellowish  tinge,  and  there  was  a  large 
proportion  of  split,  flawed,  and  spotted  stones,  and  boart.  The 
De  Beers  mine  crystals  resembled  the  Kimberley  stones,  but 
their  quality  ran  a  little  below  the  Kimberley  mine.  Dutoitspan 
produced  comparatively  few  stones,  but  the  average  weight  was 
notably  large,  and  the  crystals  were  of  fine  color.  Bultfontein 
stones  differed  greatly  from  those  of  the  other  mines.  Here 
the  diamonds  were  chiefly  small,  rounded  octahedrons,  many  of 
them  so  pocked  and  spotted  that  the  crystals  had  a  cloudy 
appearance.1  These  crystals  were  greatly  inferior  to  the  "  glassy 
stones  "  of  Kimberley  or  the  large  diamonds  of  Dutoitspan ; 
but  the  Bultfontein  surface  ground  yield  was  so  uniform  at 
first,  that  many  diggers  held  and  worked  claims  for  the  sake  of 
sure,  if  small,  returns  to  defray  their  expenses,  while  they  counted 
on  their  Dutoitspan  claims  for  the  occasional  large  stones  that 
richly  rewarded  a  lucky  digger. 

All  the  crystals  in  the  blue  ground  were  encased  in  a  smooth 
bed  of  the  same  material  which  did  not  adhere  to  the  diamonds, 
so  that  their  lustre,  when  extracted,  was  quite  bright  or  glassy. 

1  "South  African  Diamond  Fields,"  Morton,  1877. 


THE    GREAT    WHITE    CAMPS 


209 


1872,  looking  South. 

Amid  the  mass  of  white  and  light  yellowish  stones  in  all  the 
mines  were  scattered  some  of  varied  color.  Brown  was  the 
most  common  of  these ;  next  came  the  deeper  yellow  shades, 
and  pale  blue  stones  were  sometimes  uncovered,  as  well  as  the 
black  diamond  (boart)  used  for  setting  drill-crowns.  Pink, 
mauve,  and  green  diamonds  were  occasionally  found,  but  were 
less  common  than  in  the  river  diggings. 

As  already  mentioned,  it  has  been  estimated  that  the  rush 
which  built  up  these  mining  camps  and  covered  the  surround- 
ing farms  with  prospectors  brought  fifty  thousand  men  to  the 
new  Diamond  Fields  in  the  first  year,  though  the  shifting  popu- 
lation of  the  Fields  did  not  rise  as  high  as  that  at  any  one  time.1 
The  influx  of  native  Africans  was  not  so  large  at  first,  but 
increased  from  year  to  year.  Morton  says  that  there  was  a  flow 
of  thirty  thousand  natives  annually  to  the  field  for  seven  years 
after  the  discovery  of  the  mines.2  This  is  a  credible  estimate,  at 
least,  in  view  of  the  constant  drifting  away  from  the  field  of  the 
native  workers,  after  a  few  months'  stay,  when  they  had  earned 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 

2  "  South  African  Diamond  Fields,"  Morton,  1877. 
p 


210       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

sufficient  money  to  buy  their  coveted  guns  and  ammunition,  and 
wives,  cattle,  blankets,  etc. 

The  bulk  of  the  general  merchandise  was  hauled  slowly  from 
the  coast  ports  in  ox-wagons.  Algoa  Bay  (Port  Klizabeth)  was 
the  chief  port  of  supply  at  first,  and  the  transport  to  the  Dia- 
mond Fields  was  a  trip  ranging  from  thirty  days,  at  least,  to  six 
months.1  Certain  kinds  of  food  —  beef,  mutton,  poultry,  game, 
dried  venison,  commonly  called  "  biltong," 2  and  maize  meal 
(mealie  meal)  —  were  furnished  quite  cheaply  and  plentifully  from 
the  neighboring  Free  State  and  the  South  African  Republic, 
through  the  Klip-drift  distributing  market.  Tobacco,  butter, 
eggs,  and  honey  were  less  freely  supplied  from  the  country,  and 
commanded  a  ready  sale.  Ordinary  beef  and  mutton  sold  for 
4</.  a  pound  in  1871,  with  an  additional  charge  for  choice  steaks. 
A  whole  sheep  could  be  bought  at  wholesale  for  4^.  Game, 
chiefly  springbok,  blesbok,  and  wildebeest,  was  as  cheap  as 
mutton.  Chickens  and  ducks  ranged  from  2s.  6d.  to  ys.  6d. 
apiece.  The  price  of  eggs  ran  high,  ranging  from  is.  6d.  to  4^. 
a  dozen,  and  butter  was  sold  at  from  is,  6d.  to  5^.  per  pound. 
For  "  Boer  meal,"  a  coarse  wheat  flour,  the  charge  was  from 
35-T.  to  $os.  per  muid,  about  183  pounds  ;  white  flour  brought  6d. 
a  pound;  rice  9^.;  sugar  and  tobacco  9^.  to  is. ;  oranges  and 
onions  were  sold  at  IQS.  per  hundred,  and  dried  fruits  at  from 
3*/.  to  yd.  per  pound.8 

The  most  urgent  calls  were  for  fresh  vegetables,  and  the 
supply  was  so  meagre  that  the  prices  shot  up  to  exorbitant  fig- 
ures. From  5-f.  to  js.  was  freely  given  for  a  bucketful  of 
potatoes,  and  the  wholesale  price  for  a  bag  of  a  hundredweight 
was  from  ^£2  to  £1  ids.  Haifa  crown  (sixty  cents)  was  often 
paid  for  a  small  cabbage  or  a  handful  of  onions.  Choice  forage 
for  the  horses  and  mules  was  almost  as  costly  as  vegetables.  A 
bundle  of  five  pounds  of  unthreshed  oat  hay  was  sold  for  as  high 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 

2  Biltong  is  made  of  meat  of  any  of  the  antelope  species,  but  that  made  from 
the  springbok  is  considered  the  best. 

3  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,   1872. 


THE    GREAT   WHITE    CAMPS  211 

as  2J.  Dry  cut  fuel  was  as  high  priced  as  forage.  Bundles  of 
light  sticks  sold  from  yd.  to  is.  per  bundle,  and  ^3  was  charged 
for  a  load  of  good  firewood.  There  was  a  considerable  forest 
growth  on  the  hills  near  the  Vaal  River,  and  many  thickets 
on  the  ridges  nearer  the  camps,  but  the  cost  of  cutting  and  haul- 
ing was  so  great  that  many  diggers  contrived  to  make  their  fires 
of  dried  bullocks'  dung  (buffalo  chips  as  they  were  called  by  the 
emigrants  crossing  the  American  plains),  as  they  had  learned  to 
do  when  crossing  the  karoo.1 

Market  auctions  were  the  common  and  popular  mode  of 
selling  food  and  ordinary  miners'  supplies.  Criers  swinging  bells 
rang  up  the  drowsy  camps  for  the  early  morning  market,  where 
meat,  eggs,  butter,  fruit,  and  vegetables  were  offered  from  wagons 
and  stalls  in  the  open  market  squares.  These  sales  and  gather- 
ings of  bidders  and  lookers-on  formed  one  of  the  liveliest  camp 
scenes,  especially  on  Saturday,  when  thousands  of  whites  and 
blacks  flocked  to  the  auctions,  surrounding  the  stands  with  dense 
masses  of  jovial  bargainers.  How  strange  and  curious  to  a 
newcomer's  eye  was  the  market  show,  —  carcasses  of  big  brown 
shaggy  wildebeests  hanging  up  in  line  with  sides  of  beef,  ante- 
lopes with  slender  legs  stretched  out  stifHy  among  the  slaughtered 
sheep  and  lambs,  strips  of  biltong  and  freshly  killed  kids, 
little  long-legged  hares,  party-colored  bustards,  red-wing  par- 
tridges, red-legged  plovers,  guinea  fowl,  ducks,  geese,  and  other 
wild  fowl,  mingled  with  the  poultry  from  country  farmyards  ! 
Here  were  lines  of  huge  tent-covered  wagons  filled  with  hides, 
and  wool,  and  meal,  and  wood,  driven  to  market  by  the  stolid 
Boers  or  Hottentot  servants  grinning  from  ear  to  ear.  Potatoes, 
and  beets,  and  carrots,  and  onions,  and  cabbages  were  piled  in 
heaps,  tempting  the  last  shilling  of  scurvy-haunted  men.  The 
gobbling  of  turkeys,  the  crowing  of  cocks,  the  quacking  of 
ducks,  swelled  the  chorus  of  chatter  and  laughing  and  singing 
and  badinage,  that  smothered,  at  times,  the  brisk  calls  of  the 
auctioneers  and  the  offers  of  the  diggers  and  the  hotel  and  shop 
keepers.2 

1  "  The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872.        2  Ibid. 


212      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


THE    GREAT    WHITE   CAMPS 


213 


In  the  afternoons  special  sales  of  tents,  miners'  tools,  guns, 
and  general  merchandise  were  frequently  made  by  auction,  and 
large  stocks  were  sometimes  sold  off  completely  in  this  way. 
Often  in  the  flurry  of  competition  these  goods  brought  absurdly 
high  prices,  when  the  market  was  overstocked  with  like  articles 
in  the  stores.  It  was  observed  as  a  curious  fact  that  scarcely  a 
bid  could  be  got  for  revolvers,  which  many  adventurers  had  sup- 
posed to  be  an  indispensable  part  of  their  outfit.  There  were 
very  few  outbreaks  of  ruffianism  in  the  camps,  where  the  great 


Markel 


body  of  miners  was  disposed  to  be  orderly,  and  occasional  sprees 
were  the  chief  disturbances.  The  swaggering  bullies,  and  cheating 
gamblers,  and  lurking  garroters,  who  infested  the  seething  camps 
of  Nevada  and  Colorado,  rarely  drifted  as  far  as  these  isolated 
Diamond  Fields,  and  the  few  who  came  in  were  held  in  check. 

The  crying  need  of  the  camps  was  good  water.  The  Du- 
toitspan  basin  did  not  always  hold  out  through  the  dry  season, 
and  besides,  this  pan  was  filled  by  drainage  and  was  not  whole- 
some ;  but  two  rude  dams  were  built  that  served  to  store  up 
drainage  water  longer  than  the  natural  reservoirs.  To  eke  out 
the  supply  the  "  Diggers'  Committee  "  at  Dutoitspan  and  Bult- 
fontein  sunk  several  wells  which  furnished  some  additional  water, 


214        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

and  a  digger  was  licensed  to  draw  two  bucketfuls  daily  upon  the 
payment  of  one  shilling  a  month  for  his  water  rights.  This 
privilege  was  so  keenly  sought  for  that  there  was  always  a  little 
crowd  of  men  with  buckets,  waiting  their  turn,  at  the  mouth  of 
a  well  in  the  daytime.  The  water  was  muddy,  but  it  was  never- 
theless eagerly  drunk,  and  the  stinted  supply  was  too  precious  for 
washing.  Following  this  push  of  the  committee,  prospecting 
water  shafts  were  sunk  by  private  enterprise,  and  when  water  was 
reached,  the  well  was  opened  to  a  limited  number  of  subscribers 
upon  payment  of  a  monthly  fee  of  four  shillings.1 

At  Kimberley,  water,  for  months,  was  so  dear  that  it  was  sold 
for  threepence  a  bucket,  and  a  daily  washing  of  face  and  hands 
was  a  stretch  of  luxury.  A  stinted  bath  at  Dutoitspan  cost  two 
shillings  and  sixpence,  and  bathing  at  the  other  camps  was 
rarely  attempted.  When  the  coating  of  grime  grew  unbearable, 
the  best  resource  was  a  ride  or  tramp  to  the  Vaal  and  a  plunge 
in  the  river.  In  the  dry  season,  when  the  air  was  full  of  floating 
dust  from  the  claims  and  cradles,  and  when  hot  winds  from  the 
veld  blew  in  clouds  of  red  sand,  the  dearth  of  water  was  bit- 
terly felt,  and  no  joker  was  safe  who  ventured  to  recall  the  "  old 
oaken  bucket "  and  other  vain  visions  of  cool,  bubbling  springs. 

Often  the  dust-storms  passed  beyond  the  aggravation  of 
thirst  and  discomfort,  driving  sand-whirls  so  furiously  in  the 
faces  of  the  workers  that  the  hardiest  men  were  forced  to  drop 
their  picks  and  shovels,  and  buckets  and  cradles,  and  run  to 
cover.  Then,  for  hours,  storms  would  rack  the  tents,  straining 
every  cord  and  stitch  of  canvas  to  the  snapping  point,  and  often 
tearing  rents  in  the  walls,  or  pitching  over  tent-poles  and  all  in 
utter  wreck.  Even  when  the  stout  posts,  braced  and  guyed 
against  a  hurricane,  bore  the  strain  unyielding,  the  sheltered 
miners  had  to  swelter  in  a  mist  of  dust  that  was  blown  through 
the  crevices  into  every  fold  of  bedding  and  clothing,  and  coated 
every  inch  of  their  skins  with  irritating  powder. 

Next  to  this  pest  of  dust  was  the  plague  of  flies,  little  and 
large,  black  and  green,  that  swarmed  over  the  camps  in  countless 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 


THE    GREAT   WHITE   CAMPS  215 

myriads  in  the  summer  season,  tainting  every  morsel  of  food,  and 
settling  on  every  bare  face  or  body  with  a  dash  so  bold  and  per- 
sistent, and  a  grip  so  malignant,  that  it  hurt  like  a  sting.  No 
possible  device  could  clear  the  tents  completely,  or  keep  out 
these  swarms  ;  but  the  miners  armed  themselves  with  big  whisks 
of  wildebeest  and  ox  tails,  and  got  some  relief  by  constantly  flick- 
ing and  slashing,  or  when  they  were  forced  to  use  both  hands 
at  work  on  the  cradles  or  sorting  tables,  "fly  flappers"  stood  by 
to  brush  back  attacks. 

Hot  days  in  the  dry  diggings  on  the  bare  veld  were  more 
keenly  felt  than  the  same  days  on  the  tree-fringed  Vaal,  and  some 
midsummer  days  were  too  scorching  even  for  the  endurance  of 
the  seasoned  black  diggers.  But,  except  at  midday,  few  work- 
ing hours  were  lost  when  the  sun  was  shining.  The  swooping 
thunder-storms  were  scarcely  less  terrific  than  the  storms  in  the 
river  valley,  striking  the  camps  with  drenching  pelts  of  rain  and 
heavy  hail,  hurled  from  cloud  banks  blazing  and  bellowing  with 
monstrous  forks  of  lightning  and  stunning  thunder  peals. 

The  clear  winter  days  were  greatly  invigorating.  At  break 
of  day  it  was  often  so  cold  that  jugs  of  water  were  skimmed 
with  ice  and  a  hoar  frost  covered  the  ground.  But  when  the 
bright  sun  mounted  the  sky,  the  chill  air  was  so  warmed  in  a 
few  hours,  and  so  pure  on  the  breezy  veld,  that  the  miners 
gained  fresh  spirit  with  every  breath,  and  went  through  their 
monotonous  round  of  work  with  unflagging  life  and  good  humor. 
The  actual  record  of  a  week  at  the  mines,  in  August,  1871,  gives 
a  clear  idea  of  the  winter  shifts  of  temperature.1 

DAY.  NIGHT. 

Highest  Temperature.  Lowest  Temperature. 

Aug.  21  83°  Fah 40°  Fah. 

"  22  85°    " 35°     " 

"  23  83°    " 30°     " 

"  24  92°    " -.  33°     " 

"  25  93°    •• ,  28°     " 

"  26  56°    "          .          .          .          .         .        \  28°     " 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 


216       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

The  health  of  the  camps  was  usually  good,  except  in  mid- 
summer, when  "  low  "  fever,  diarrhoea,  dysentery,  and  colic  were 
prevalent.  The  impure  drinking  water  was  the  most  persistent 
cause  of  sickness  and  the  most  difficult  to  combat.  Inflamma- 
tion of  the  lungs  from  the  fretting  dust,  and  mild  scurvy,  were 
the  other  common  ailments,  occasioned  by  the  conditions  of  life 
at  the  diggings.1 

It  was  not  all  work  and  no  play  in  these  diamond  diggings. 
Saturday  afternoon  was  commonly  taken  as  a  half  holiday  in 
addition  to  the  Sunday  rest  and  recreation.  In  the  springtime, 
or  the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season,  fresh  flowers  sprang  into 
bloom  on  the  face  of  the  veld,  and  birds  built  their  nests  in  the 
grass  and  thickets.  Little  dusky  black-and-white  birds,  recall- 
ing the  English  linnet,  were  sweetly  trilling  songsters,  and  were 
so  fearless  and  sociable  that  they  flew  everywhere  over  the  dig- 
gings, in  the  midst  of  the  dust  and  stir,  perching  on  heaps  of 
broken  rock,  or  even  on  the  diggers'  cradles,  comically  fluttering 
their  tails,  and  chirping  so  musically  that  the  wearied  men  were 
charmed  to  watch  and  listen.  There  was  good  shooting,  too,  for 
wild  fowl  and  small  game  on  the  open  veld  ;  and  not  far  from 
Dutoitspan  there  was  a  large  stretch  of  thickets  and  scrub  where 
korhaans  and  paauws  and  partridges  and  plovers  and  hares 
abounded.  The  stately  Kafir  cranes  shook  their  bluish  gray 
plumes  on  the  brink  of  the  vleis,  or  water  holes,  where  they 
came  to  drink,  and  were  shot  by  the  hunters  who  lay  in  wait. 
Their  flesh  was  not  unpalatable  as  a  change  from  biltong,  but 
the  hunters  who  pushed  toward  the  Vaal  brought  back  better 
eating  than  cranes  in  their  bags,  —  wild  ducks  and  geese  and 
guinea  fowl,  and  even  a  nimble  springbok  or  queer-headed  wilde- 
beest or  hartebeest.  The  swift  leopard,  too,  was  occasionally 
shot  near  the  river  bank,  and  the  rambling  diggers  found  some 
fun  in  unearthing  porcupines,  or  chasing  a  jackal  with  dogs,  or 
lying  in  wait  for  the  shy  head  of  a  meerkat  to  pop  out  of  a 
hole.  A  string  of  fish,  that  could  readily  be  caught  in  the  river, 

1  "The   Diamond   Diggings   of  South   Africa,"  Payton,    1872.        "  To  the 
Cape  for  Diamonds,"  Frederick  Boyle,   1873. 


THE   GREAT   WHITE   CAMPS  217 


made  a  welcome  meal  ;  and  a  run  to  the  Vaal,  with  a  few 
camping  under  the  willows  and  long  swims  in  the  swirling 
current,  was  a  gay  streak  of  diversion  from  dusty  diamond 
digging.1 

Within  the  camping  grounds  there  were  always,  in  the  day- 
time and  evening,  stirring  scenes  to  attract  the  eye,  —  antics  of 
ponies  and  mules  ;  the  passage  of  straining  bullock  teams  with 
carts  piled  high  with  diamond-bearing  ground,  or  wagons  loaded 
with  country  produce  ;  the  rambling  of  pedlers  with  packs 
and  trays  ;  the  groups  of  native  tribesmen  in  trappings  of  skins 
and  feathers  or  comical  old  clothing,  chattering  or  singing  or 
whooping  or  dancing  ;  the  clustering  of  black  women,  washing 
on  the  edge  of  the  water  pools  ;  the  rallies  of  amateur  minstrels 
and  travelling  shows  ;  the  merry-go-round,  ridden  by  laughing 
children  or  solemn  country  clowns  ;  the  rattling  of  pins  in  the 
bowling  alleys  and  clicking  of  balls  on  pool  tables,  the  crowded 
"  canteens,"  and  all  the  other  lively  sights  and  sounds  of  the 
fermenting  camps. 

Fortune-tellers  and  wizards,  who  professed  to  be  able  to  see 
through  the  earth,  did  not  need  to  dig  diamonds.  Credulous 
prospectors  filled  their  laps  with  silver  and  gold.  Payton  tells 
of  one  whose  tent  in  Dutoitspan  was  thronged,  day  and  night, 
with  eager  dupes,  showering  shillings  upon  her,  and  her  income 
was  reckoned  at  ^30  a  day.  Many  of  the  Boers  had  unshak- 
able faith  in  her.  When  she  told  a  poor  Dutchman  that  there 
was  nothing  in  his  claim,  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  dig  any 
longer.  If  she  promised  diamonds  and  none  were  found,  she 
had  an  easy  defence  :  "  The  niggers  must  have  stolen  them." 
Then  the  wrathful  claim-holder  would  pounce  on  his  Kafirs  and 
haul  them  to  the  "  tronk,"  the  police  station  of  the  camp,  where 
the  blacks  were  searched  to  the  tips  of  their  toes.  Sometimes  the 
wizard  guessed  right,  for  diamond  stealing  was  common,  and 
precious  stones  would  be  brought  to  light  with  joy  to  the  owner 
and  credit  to  the  fortune-teller.2 

1  "The  Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa,"  Payton,  1872. 

2  Ibid. 


218      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 

The  whipping-post  was  soon  set  up  in  the  new  camps  and 
freely  used  to  chastise  theft  and  other  offences.  The  whipping 
was  not  very  severe,  and  it  was  remarked  that  the  "  cat "  was  not 
as  heavy  as  the  one  at  Klip-drift.  Many  of  the  natives  would 
steal  anything  that  they  could  carry  off,  and  put  on  a  brazen 
face  that  would  impose  on  a  police  court  judge.  A  story  is  told 
of  two  Hottentots  who  took  the  sheepskins  off  a  man's  bed  and 
tried  to  sell  them  back  to  their  owner  as  soon  as  his  eyes  were 
open  in  the  morning.  They  took  fifteen  lashes  on  their  bare 


Natives  resting,  on  their  Way  to  the  Mines. 

backs  without  a  whimper.  Small  fines  were  imposed  for  slighter 
breaches  of  the  camp  regulations,  and  roaring  drunkards  were 
occasionally  clapped  into  the  "  tronk,"  a  weak  little  jail,  but  the 
whipping-post  was  necessarily  the  main  dependence  for  punish- 
ment of  natives. 

Strangest  and  most  interesting  of  all  features  of  the  camps  to 
a  newcomer  were  the  habits  and  antics  of  the  marvellous  collec- 
tion of  savages,  streaming  into  the  Fields  from  the  heart  of 
Africa.  No  mining  camp  on  earth  before  ever  held  such  a  mot- 
ley swarm  of  every  dusky  shade,  in  antelope  skins  and  leopard 
skins  and  jackal  skins  and  bare  skins,  —  with  girdles  and  armlets 


THE   GREAT   WHITE   CAMPS  219 

of  white  ox-tails,  and  black  crane  plumes  and  gorgeous  bird 
feathers,  and  dirty  loin  cloths,  and  ragged  breeches,  and  battered 
hats  and  tattered  coats.  With  and  without  the  fire  of  rum  they 
might  dash  off  at  any  moment  into  some  wildly  whirling  reel 
or  savage  dance,  gabbling  in  a  hundred  dialects,  whooping  with 
weird  cries,  and  chanting  plaintive,  gay,  and  passionate  strains, 
now  dissonant,  now  sweet.  Whenever  a  new  party  of  "raw" 
natives  came  in  from  the  wilderness,  weary,  grimy,  hungry,  shy, 
trailing  along  sometimes  with  bleeding  feet  and  hanging  heads, 
and  bodies  staggering  with  faintness,  a  howl  of  jeers  was  a 
common  greeting,  and  a  pelting  with  rotten  fruits  and  stones 
was  likely  to  follow  the  scared  troop  up  the  street  of  the  camp, 
though  the  natives  were  not  churlish  at  heart,  and  might,  after- 
ward, share  their  last  crust  with  the  strangers. 

Their  savage  habits  clung  to  them  long  in  camp.  Some 
delighted  to  smoke  in  the  old  native  way,  by  making  a  little 
funnel  in  the  wet  ground  with  a  slender  stick  and  sucking  the 
smoke  through  one  end  while  the  tobacco  leaves  burned  in  a 
hollow  at  the  other.  As  a  rule  all  the  natives  from  Delagoa 
Bay  and  districts  to  the  north  of  that  part  smoked  cigars  with 
the  fire  end  in  their  mouths.  When  sheep  or  bullocks  were 
killed  at  market,  the  natives  hung  about  and  returned  exulting 
if  the  obliging  butchers  gave  them  the  entrails  to  hang  in  fes- 
toons about  their  necks  and  carry  off  smeared  with  filth.  They 
fed  content  day  after  day  on  a  few  handfuls  of  mealies  or  ground 
maize  with  an  occasional  chunk  of  refuse  meat.  They  had 
little  use  for  water  except  to  drink,  and  they  much  preferred 
Cape  brandy.  After  working  all  day,  and  roving  about  and  sing- 
ing at  night,  they  could  sleep  as  soon  as  their  heads  touched  the 
ground,  on  the  bare  earth,  without  shelter,  or  in  a  squalid  hut 
with  a  dirty  sheepskin  wrapped  around  them.  These  quaint 
Africans,  mingling  in  a  kaleidoscopic  show  with  adventurers 
coming  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  made  a  unique,  moving 
drama  on  the  stage  of  the  Diamond  Fields  that  cannot  be 
forgotten  by  any  spectator. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

OPENING    THE    CRATERS 

N  ever  present  danger  hung  over  the  miners 
from  the  very  outset  of  their  pit  digging  in  the 
diamond-bearing  funnels.  The  yellow  ground 
was  a  breccia  so  loose  and  friable  that  it  was 
constantly  caving  in  upon  the  heads  of  the 
diggers.  Then  the  pits  were  sunk  so  close 
together  that  the  walls  gave  way  and  slipped,  crumbling  into  the 
claims  below.  A  loaded  cart,  passing  along  the  edge  of  a  road, 
would  often  topple  over  and  sometimes  plunge  with  driver  and 
mule  into  the  pit  below. 

Prospecting  on  the  Alexandersfontein  farm  was  not  long  con- 
tinued ;  but  the  diggings  at  Dutoitspan,  Bultfontein,  De  Beers, 
and  Kimberley  were  ardently  opened  by  swarms  of  diamond 
seekers.  The  surface  area  covered  by  claims  was  very  much 
larger  than  the  diamond-yielding  ground,  whose  total  extent 
was,  approximately,  seventy  acres.  When  the  claims  were  con- 
solidated by  purchase,  many  years  later,  the  Kimberley  open 
mine  surface  was  figured  to  be  33  acres;  De  Beers,  22  acres; 
Dutoitspan,  45  acres;  and  Bultfontein,  36  acres.  These  meas- 
urements more  than  cover  the  extent  of  the  original  locations, 
which  were  as  follows:  Kimberley,  470  claims,  equal  to  10.37 
acres;  De  Beers,  622  claims,  equal  to  13.72  acres;  Dutoitspan, 
1441  claims,  equal  to  31.79  acres;  and  Bultfontein  1067  claims, 
equal  to  23.54  acres.  Only  a  few  scattered  diamonds  were 
found  outside  of  the  rim  of  "reef"  enclosing  the  diamond- 
bearing  craters. 

To  present  clearly  the  progress  of  mining  in  the  several 
funnels,  it  is  desirable  to  trace  the  advance  of  each  separately 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


221 


through  the  period  of  the  open  mine  working,  to  show  the  dif- 
ferent methods  employed,  and  how  one  mine  profited  by  the 
costly  experience  of  another.  The  superior  richness  of  the 
diamond-bearing  ground  in  Kimberley  mine  urged  forward  its 
opening  more  rapidly  than  the  development  of  the  others, 
and  this  may  properly  be  outlined  first.  The  plan  of  min- 
ing, with  the  reservation  of  roadways  determined  by  the  Free 
State  inspectors,  proved  a  poor  makeshift  at  best,  before  the 
sinking  of  claims  had  progressed  many  feet  below  the  sur- 


The  Breaking-up  of  the  Roads,  Kimberley  Mine,  1872. 

face.  The  bordering-claim  owners  undercut  the  roadways  cross- 
ing the  mine,  in  working  to  the  bounds  of  their  allotments, 
and  these  reserved  roads  soon  began  to  cave  away  in  places  to 
an  extent  that  made  the  passage  of  carts  very  risky.  It  was 
doubtless  convenient  to  have  ready  access  to  every  part  of  the 
surface  of  the  mine,  and  it  was  a  moving  spectacle  when  four- 
teen parallel  roadways  were  covered  with  files  of  plunging  mules 
and  rumbling  carts,  goaded  by  the  cries  and  whips  of  many  hun- 
dreds of  half-naked  Kafirs  or  white  drivers ;  but  it  was  a  piti- 
ful burlesque  of  mining  when  the  roadways  cracked  and  crumbled, 
and  crevasses  were  bridged  with  sliding  planks,  and  mule  carts 


222      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Miners  going  to  Work. 


and  men  staggered  and  slipped  over  the  roadsides  into  abysses. 
Yet  in  spite  of  all  risks  and  accidents,  the  roads  were  patched 
up  and  maintained  in  some  shape  long  after  it  was  evident  that 
they  were  doomed.  At  length  no  possible  patching  and  bridg- 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


223 


The  Hand  Drums  used  for  Winding-up  the  Blue  Ground. 

ing  could  arrest  their  fall.     One  after  another,  before  the  end 

of  the  year  1 872,  had  crumbled  away  and  slipped  into  the  great  pit. 

The  mine  was  then  an  open,  oval  quarry,  about  a  thousand 


De  Beers  Mine,  1873. 


feet   in   length   and   six   hundred   feet  in   extreme  width.     The 
broken  blue  ground  on  the  face  of  the  rough  jumble  of  terraces 


124      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

had  been  hoisted  to  the  surface  usually  in  buckets,  by  means  of 
a  rope  passing  around  a  windlass  and  through  a  pulley  fixed 
in  a  pole  set  near  the  edge  of  the  claim,  but  in  1872  a  simple 
device  of  haulage  over  two  grooved  wheels  was  largely  intro- 
duced. One  wheel  was  set  on  the  pit  bottom,  and  the  other  on 
the  surface,  with  a  handle  attached  by  means  of  which  one  or 
more  stout  natives  could  wind  up  a  rope  passing  from  wheel 
to  wheel,  carrying  up  a  loaded  bucket  and  lowering  an  empty 


Kimberley  Mine,  1873. 

one.  This  crude  device  served  the  purpose  as  long  as  a  wheel 
could  be  set  near  the  edge  of  a  claim  on  unbroken  ground,  or 
along  the  roadway ;  but  when  all  the  claims  were  at  the  bottom 
of  one  huge  open  pit,  it  was  obvious  that  only  the  outer  tier  of 
claims  could  be  worked  by  this  method. 

Then  a  haulage  system  of  really  remarkable  ingenuity  was 
contrived.  A  massive  timber  staging  was  set  completely  around 
the  mouth  of  the  mine,  carrying  two,  and  in  parts  three,  plat- 
forms, one  above  the  other.  The  upper  platform  was  connected 
by  strongly  anchored  ropes  with  the  claims  in  the  middle  of  the 
mine,  and  the  lower  platform  in  the  same  way,  with  the  claims 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


225 


Kimberk-y  Mint-,  1874. 

nearer  the  margin  of  the  mines.  Where  there  was  a  third  inter- 
vening platform,  ropes  were  stretched  to  claims  lying  between 
the  outer  and  inner  circle.  Windlasses  were  set  on  the  plat- 


Anotlier  View  of  Kimlierley  Mine,  1874. 


226       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Natives  carrying  Ground  out  of  Dutoitspan  Mine  in  Buckets. 

forms,  together  with  guide  wheels  over  which  hauling  ropes 
passed,  dragging  the  buckets  swiftly  from  the  bottom  of  the 
mine  on  little  overhead  runners,  rattling  over  the  stationary 
roped  inclines.  When  the  loaded  buckets  reached  the  platform 
levels  they  were  dumped  into  chutes  carrying  the  contents  into 
bags,  which  were  readily  carted  away  to  level  depositing  grounds, 
or  "floors,"  as  they  were  technically  termed,  where  the  blue 
ground  was  sifted  and  sorted.  The  empty  buckets  were  easily 
W 


Back  View  of  the  Staging  with  Grooved  Wheels,  at  Kimberley. 


OPENING   THE    CRATERS 


227 


returned,  running  back  by  force  of  gravity  over  the  ropes  to 
the  claims.  The  buckets  were  of  rawhide,  for  this  material 
was  found  to  be  more  lasting  than  iron,  and  the  ropes  were  at 
first  largely  of  hemp  or  twisted  rawhide ;  but  iron  and  steel 
wire  gradually  replaced  all  other  material. 

So  thickly  together  were  these  lines  set,  that  the  whole  face 
of  the  vast  pit  seemed  to  be  covered  by  a  monstrous  cobweb, 
shining  in  the  moonlight  as  if  every  filament  was  a  silver  strand. 
Never  has  any  eye  seen  such  a  marvellous  show  of  mining  as 


Kimberley  Mine,  1875. 

was  given  in  this  grand  amphitheatre,  when  the  huge  pit  was  sunk 
far  below  the  surface  level ;  when  the  encircling  wreath  of  the 
chasm  rose  sheer  and  black  like  the  walls  of  a  deep,  gloomy 
canyon,  or  the  swelling  round  of  a  demon's  caldron ;  when  a 
downward  glance  from  the  perch  of  a  platform  made  weak  heads 
reel ;  when  thousands  of  half-naked  men,  dwarfed  to  pygmy 
size,  were  scratching  the  face  of  the  pit  with  their  puny  picks 
like  burrowing  gnomes  ;  when  thousands  more,  all  grimy  and 
sweating  and  odorous,  were  swarming  around  the  pit's  mouth, 
dragging  up  loads  of  diamond-sprinkled  ground  and  carrying 
off  their  precious  sacks ;  when  hide  buckets  were  flying  like 


228       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Snow  in  Kimberley  Mine,  June  21,  1876. 

shuttles  in  a  loom  up  and  down  the  vast  warp  of  wires,  twanging 
like  dissonant  harp-strings,  with  a  deafening  din  of  rattling 
wheels  and  falling  ground ;  and  where  every  beholder  was  won- 
der-struck at  the  thought  that  this  weird  creation  in  the  heart  of 


Method  of  Hauling,  De  Beers  Mine,  1873. 


OPENING   THE    CRATERS 


229 


South  Africa  had  been  evolved  by  men  for  the  sake  of  a  few 
buckets  of  tiny  white  crystals  to  adorn  the  heads  and  hands  of 
fanciful  women.1 


The  First  Horse  Whim,  Kimberley  Mine, 


With  the  deepening  of  the  mine,  "  horse  whims,"  first  intro- 
duced in  1874,  were  gradually  substituted  for  hand  tackle  in 
hoisting  and  lowering  the  buckets,  which  were  enlarged  tubs 


Hauling  Gear  and  Jumpers, 


1  When  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  visited  the  diamond  fields,  while  looking  at  a 
huge  parcel  of  diamonds  he  remarked,  "  All  for  the  vanity  of  woman."  A  lady, 
who  heard  the  remark,  added,  "  and  the  depravity  of  man." 


230       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 


A  Nook  in  Kimberley  Mine,  1874. 


holding  five  or  six  cubic  feet  of  blue  ground.  These  whims 
were  timber  wheels  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  feet  in  diameter, 
set  near  the  edge  of  the  mine,  to  revolve  horizontally  about 


OPENING   THE    CRATERS 


231 


eight  feet  above  the  surface  level.  To  turn  the  whim  an  iron 
hoop,  projecting  from  the  wheel,  was  attached  to  the  harness  of 
a  horse  or  mule.  The  hauling  rope  was  wound  above  the  hol- 
lowed rim  of  the  wheel,  and  each  end  of  the  rope  was  fastened 
to  a  tub,  one  hauling  up  the  load  of  blue  ground,  and  the  other 
lowering  the  empty  tub. 

In  the  following  year,  1875,  tne  ^rst  steam  winding  engine 
employed  at  the  mines  was  transported  to  Kimberley  to  take 
the  place  of  horse  power  in  moving  the  whim,  and  the  first 


The  Horse  Whims,  Kimberley  Mine,  1875. 

application  of  modern  mining  methods  to  the  South  African  Dia- 
mond Fields  was  made.  This  seemingly  tardy  development  was 
due  less  to  a  lack  of  enterprise  than  to  the  heavy  charges  of 
freight  transportation  from  the  coast,  ranging  for  years  over 
^30  per  ton,  and  to  the  scarcity  and  cost  of  fuel,  combined  with 
the  lack  of  any  positive  assurance  of  the  continuance  in  depth 
of  the  diamond-bearing  ground.  Such  a  deposit  of  diamonds 
as  had  been  uncovered  in  the  South  African  farm  lands  had 
never  been  opened  before,  and  the  erection  of  costly  machinery 
for  its  extraction  was  naturally  deemed  an  unwarranted  risk. 


232       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 


Hauling  Gear,  Dutoitspan  Mine,  1876. 

But  as  the  cutting  passed  farther  and  farther  down  through 
the  reef-circled  funnels  without  disclosing  any  barren  stratum  or 
break  in  the  body  of  breccia,  the  surmise  rose  gradually  to  the 
point  of  conviction  that  the  funnels  were  craters  of  extinct  vol- 
canoes, filled  by  successive  eruptions  of  steam  or  gas  under  great 
pressure  with  a  diamantiferous  breccia,  carrying  fragments  of  vol- 
canic and  sedimentary  rocks  and  crystals  of  many  kinds  of  min- 
erals. This  conclusion,  however,  was  hardly  more  than  one  of 
several  varying  assumptions  in  advance  of  the  thorough  re- 
searches and  analyses  of  later  years,  when  the  prosecution  of 
deep  mining  works  determined  positively  the  existence  of  craters, 
the  character  of  the  breccia,  and  the  composition  of  its  encasing 
reef.  So  the  progress  of  mining  on  the  Diamond  Fields  was 
long  a  hesitating  and  tentative  advance,  groping  step  by  step 
into  the  depths  of  the  blue  ground. 

After  the  device  of  staging  and  hoisting  ropes  had  solved, 
for  a  time,  the  problem  of  open  excavation  in  the  Kimberley 
mine  crater,  and  the  caving  of  the  blue  ground  was  no  longer 
a  terror  to  the  diggers,  the  collection  of  water  in  the  pits  was  a 
serious  annoyance.  Most  of  this  water  was  surface  drainage, 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


233 


Surface  Loading  Boxes. 


Aerial  Trams  and  Surface  Chutes,  De  Beers  Mine,  18 


234       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

flooding  the  lower  levels  in  the  rainy  season,  but  never  sufficient 
in  quantity  to  have  been  any  considerable  obstacle,  if  the  mine 
had  been  equipped  with  the  ordinary  pumping  machinery  erected 
in  other  mining  districts.  The  lack  of  any  such  machinery, 
compelling  for  years  the  bailing  and  hoisting  of  the  water  in 
buckets  or  tubs  by  hand  or  horse  power,  was  no  slight  draw- 
back to  the  progress  of  sinking.  Hard  upon  this  impediment 
came  the  much  graver  trouble  occasioned  by  the  crumbling, 
cracking,  sliding,  and  falling  of  the  encasing  reef  of  decom- 
posed basalt  and  shale.  The  unstable  walls  of  these  soft  rocks 
caved  rapidly  upon  exposure  to  air  and  moisture  into  the  open 
pit,  and  the  fracturing  and  slipping  were  aggravated  by  the 
imprudent  vertical  cutting  of  the  mine,  removing  the  entire 
body  of  blue  ground  without  cutting  away  the  reef  in  compara- 
tively stable  terraces  or  slopes.  Obviously  no  single  claim-holder 
would  undertake  the  cost  of  removing  the  dangerous  reef  for 
the  common  benefit,  and  it  was  difficult  to  secure  the  general 
cooperation  and  subscriptions  so  urgently  required  for  this  work. 
What  is  everybody's  business  in  theory  has  too  often  been 
nobody's  business  in  practice.  The  mean  and  short-sighted 


Hauling  Gear,  Kimberley  Mine,  1885. 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


235 


hope  to  be  protected  without  cost  by  the  enterprise  of  the  more 
liberal  and  prudent !  The  central  claim  holders  counted  on  the 
distance  of  their  claims  from  the  reef  to  assure  their  safety,  and 
the  outer  circles  of  claim-holders  hung  upon  luck  to  shield  their 
ground.  But  the  frequent  recurrence  of  reef  falls  and  slides, 


The  French  Company's  Sling  Gear,  1885. 

together  with  the  gathering  of  troublesome  water  pools,  so 
emphasized  the  necessity  of  combination  that  a  Mining  Board 
was  organized  in  1874  by  general  concurrence  of  the  claim- 
holders,  with  power  to  levy  a  comprehensive  assessment  to  cover 
the  expense  of  keeping  the  mine  clear  of  water  and  fallen  reef. 
This  board  took  the  place  of  the  original  "  Diggers'  Committee  " 
which  had  hitherto  been  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  crude 
code  of  mining  regulations. 

The  creation  of  this  new  administrative  board  was  a  move 
in  the  right  direction,  but  unfortunately  it  did  not  go  far 
enough.  The  opening  of  so  large  a  number  of  small  separate 
claims  by  individual  holders  barred  the  essential  application  of 
system  to  the  sinking  of  the  great  pit.  The  Mining  Board 
lacked  the  means,  if  it  had  the  foresight,  to  undertake  the 


236      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


checking  of  the  reef  slides  by  cutting  back  the  vertical  reef 
walls,  and  it  attempted  little  practically  besides  the  removal  of 
the  drainage  and  spring  water  and  the  clearing  away  of  fallen 
reef  from  the  face  of  the  blue  ground.  This  was  slipshod 
mining  at  best,  for  the  bare  extraction  of  the  reef,  which  had 
slid  and  fallen  over  the  claims,  actually  exposed  the  mine  to 
further  reef  slides,  and  this  disaster  was  aggravated  by  the  utter 

lack  of  system  in 
clearing  off  the 
fallen  debris. 
Every  claim- 
holder  was  per- 
mitted to  clear 
off  his  own  claim 
independently, 
and  credited  with 
an  allowance  of 
45.  for  every  load 
of  1 6  cubic  feet 
of  broken  reef 
removed.  The 
clearing  of  the 
face  of  one  claim 
or  a  cluster  of 
claims  was  no 
security  against 
repeated  reef  slides,  and  barred  the  possibility  of  developing 
any  section  of  a  mine  in  an  economical  and  well-planned  way. 

The  practical  impossibility  of  opening  a  little  claim,  whose 
surface  area  was  only  961  square  feet,  beyond  a  limited  depth 
forced  the  consolidation  of  claims  in  spite  of  the  original  pro- 
hibition of  "claim  blocking."  The  poorer  sections  of  ground 
were  the  first  to  feel  the  pressure  for  the  enlargement  of  hold- 
ings, and,  to  secure  the  continuance  of  working,  permission  was 
granted  in  1874  by  the  Kimberley  Mining  Board  for  the  hold- 
ing of  ten  claims  by  a  single  owner.  This  concession  led  to 


Loading  Tubs  at  Bottom  of  Kitnberlev  Mine,  18 


OPENING   THE    CRATERS 


237 


further  combination  and  consolidation  of  claims  in  the  hands 
of  partners  and  stock  companies,  but  the  comprehensive  union 
essential  to  the  proper  development  of  the  mine  was  far  too  long 
delayed.  The  mining  operations  of  a  number  of  individual 
claim-owners,  firms,  and  companies  —  whether  in  keen  rivalry 
or  in  varying  degrees  of  energy  and  listlessness  without  any  sus- 


BHH 

The  Standard  Company's  Claim,  Bottom  of  Kimberley  Mine,  1885. 

tained  concert  of  views  and  means  —  could  not  be  prosecuted 
efficiently  and  prudently  within  the  small  area  of  a  diamond- 
mine  crater.  Unluckily  for  the  advance  of  diamond  mining 
and  the  fortune  of  many  struggling  claim-holders,  this  irresist- 
ible conclusion  was  not  made  clear  to  the  mass  of  miners  until 
it  was  demonstrated  after  long  years  of  costly  fumbling  in  the 
diamond-bearing  funnels. 

In  view  of  the  subdivision  of  ownership,  the  incoherence  of 
the  mining  operations,  and  the  lack  of  essential  funds,  the 
Mining  Board  can  hardly  be  charged  with  a  great  part  of  the 


238      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Bottom  of  Kimberley  Open  Workings. 

burden  of  responsibility  for  the  failure  to  save  the  mine  from 
disaster  through  reef  falls.  The  open  pit  working  was  not  its 
design,  but  the  inexperienced  undertaking  of  a  mass  of  diggers 
who  could  not  be  prevented  from  extracting  the  diamond-bear- 
ing ground  in  their  own  rude  way.  They  scooped  out  the 
crater  to  a  depth  that  made  reef  falls  inevitable,  and  pushed  on 
their  cuts  through  the  body  of  blue  ground,  in  spite  of  all  warn- 
ing falls  and  slides,  long  after  it  was  apparent  to  any  mining 
engineer  that  the  open  pit  sinking  could  not  be  continued  with 
safety  to  the  workers  or  with  profit  to  the  owners. 

But  it  is  impossible  to  approve  the  relief  measures  of  the 
Mining  Board.  It  could  only  check  the  reef  falls  at  best,  tem- 
porarily and  partially,  but  it  failed  to  do  even  this.  It  set  up 
expensive  hoisting  machinery  on  the  surface  level  at  opposite 
ends  of  the  mine,  and  sunk  a  large  vertical  shaft  (Kendric  shaft) 
in  the  reef  at  a  point  two  hundred  yards  from  the  northeast  edge 
of  the  crater,  with  the  apparent  intention  of  removing  reef  rock 
through  this  opening  or  determining  the  continuance  of  the  blue 


OPENING   THE    CRATERS 


239 


ground  by  a  drift  to  the  crater  below  the  pit  bottom.  The  shaft 
was  driven  down  to  the  depth  of  286  feet,  when  a  stratum  of  vol- 
canic rock  was  reached,  so  hard  that  the  work  was  abandoned. 
No  use  whatever  was  made  of  this  costly  shaft,  and  no  consid- 
erable attempt  was  made  to  cut  back  the  dangerous  reef  wall. 
Even  with  the  stinted  means  at  the  command  of  the  Board, 
something  might  have  been  done  to  preserve  the  mine,  and  an 
energetic  and  well-directed  push  to  this  end  would  have  com- 
manded at  least  the  confidence  and  support  of  the  more  in- 
telligent claim-holders.  So,  when  the  caving  of  the  reef  cast 
enormous  heaps  of  debris  upon  the  claims  in  the  pit,  the  lack  of 
foresight  of  the  Mining  Board  was  discreditably  apparent.  The 
cost  of  removing  the  reef  rock  was  then  vastly  increased,  and 
the  burden  was  the  heavier  because  the  reef  falls  prevented  the 
extraction  of  the  buried  blue  ground. 

Two  of  the  larger  companies,  the  French  and  the  Central, 
holding  claims  in  the  mine,  were  the  first  to  undertake  the  re- 
moval of  the  solid  reef  on  any  extensive  scale,  by  sinking  shafts, 
in  1878— 1879,  at  points  several  hundred  feet  distant  from  the 


Pumping  Engine  in  Kimberley  Mine,  1875. 


440      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

north  and  south  sides  of  the  mine.  By  this  means  considerable 
reef  was  removed,  and  a  third  shaft  was  sunk  in  1882  through 
the  northeast  reef  border  to  check  the  imminent  peril  at  that 
edge  of  the  mine.  To  supplement  the  service  of  these  shafts 
inclined  tramways  were  opened  on  the  west  and  east  sides  of 
the  mine  to  cut  back  the  upper  reef  walls,  while  wire  tramways 
were  stretched  from  the  bottom  of  the  mine  to  the  surface  edge 
to  carry  off  the  fallen  reef  in  large  tipping  tubs,  holding  from 
1 6  to  32  cubic  feet  of  broken  rock.  At  the  end  of  1881  tram- 
ways, aggregating  19  miles  in  length,  had  been  constructed  by 


Incline  Tramway  for  Hauling  Reef,  1878. 

the  claim-holders  and  the  Mining  Board.  Steam  pumping 
engines  had  been  put  in  to  pump  out  the  influx  of  water,  and 
this  obstacle  was,  at  last,  easily  overcome.  To  hasten  and 
cheapen  the  extraction  of  blue  ground,  drilling  and  blasting  were 
substituted  for  hand  labor  with  picks,  and  the  work  of  mining 
was  pressed  with  incessant  energy.  But  the  sliding,  falling  reef 
mocked  every  effort  to  withstand  it. 

The  work  of  removal  was  undertaken  too  late.  The  reef 
slipped  faster  than  the  tram  cars  and  tubs  could  haul  it  out. 
In  1878  more  than  a  quarter  of  the  surface  of  the  claims  in 
the  mine  was  covered  by  fallen  reef.  The  cost  of  removal, 
at  the  original  allowance  rate  of  4^.  per  load  of  16  cubic  feet, 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


241 


mounted  so  high  that  the  Mining  Board  was  constrained  to  cut 
down  the  allowance  to  is.  6d.y  but  even  with  the  rate  reduced 
the  expenditure  for  reef  work  and  drainage  in  1879  and  1880 
ran  over  ^£1 50,000  a  year,  and  in  1881  it  rose  to  over  ^£200,000. 
Still,  the  need  of  stimulating  extraordinary  exertion  was  then  so 
apparent  that  the  rate  was  put  up  to  ys.  yd.  a  load  in  October, 
1 88 1,  and  for  the  eighteen  months  following  fifty-six  million 
cubic  feet  of  broken  reef  were  hauled  away  by  the  claim-holders 


Hauling  Reef,  Kimberley  Mine,  1873. 

alone,  at  a  cost  to  the  Board  of  over  ^650,000,  without  reckon- 
ing the  amount  extracted  by  the  operation  of  its  own  tramways. 
This  stupendous  charge  was  obviously  too  heavy  to  be 
borne  even  by  the  richest  diamond  mine,  and  no  assessment 
scheme  could  sustain  it.  The  Board  struggled  for  months 
under  the  load,  issuing  notes  when  it  had  no  cash  in  hand ;  but 
in  March,  1883,  its  issue  of  outstanding  notes  or  "  reef-bills  "  was 
so  great  that  its  book  showed  a  debit  balance  of  over  ^£2  50,000, 
and  the  local  banks  would  extend  no  further  credit.  The  Board 
was  bankrupt,  reef  extraction  was  stopped,  perforce,  and  the 


242      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


claim-holders  were  face  to  face  with  an  appalling  situation  ;  for 
in  spite  of  all  efforts  and  the  outflow  of  money  like  a  water- 
spout, the  resistless  reef  was  unchecked.  The  mine  walls  con- 
tinued to  fall  in  faster  than  they  could  be  hauled  out,  and  even 
central  claims  in  the  mine  were  buried.  The  gloomiest  forebod- 
ings fell  like  a  black  cloud  on  the  spirits  of  claim-holders.  In 

the  judgment  of 
many  observers,  the 
great  Kimberley  dia- 
mond mine  was 
doomed  beyond  hope 
of  resurrection. 

The  open  pit  had 
been  sunk  to  the 
depth  of  something 
over  four  hundred 
feet,  in  the  lowest 
working,  at  the  end 
of  the  year  1882.  In 
order  to  haul  out  one 
million  loads  of  blue 
ground  during  that 
year,  three  million 
loads  of  reef  had 
been  raised.  The 
cost  of  hauling  was 
increasing  with  the 

Reef  Falls,  Kimberley  Mine,  1881.  deepening         of        the 

mine,  and  owing  to  the  reef  falls,  the  production  of  diamonds 
was  disastrously  sinking.  In  1883  tne  'ac'c  °f  funds  only  per- 
mitted the  lifting  of  one  and  a  half  million  loads  of  reef  at  a  cost 
of  ^250,000,  and  the  output  of  blue  ground  sunk  to  350,000 
loads.  In  November  of  that  year  a  long  portended  reef  slide 
cast  250,000  cubic  yards  of  shale  upon  the  face  of  the  pit,  piling 
its  mass  on  the  claims  half  across  the  mine.  This  was  seemingly 
a  crushing  infliction.  It  was,  at  least,  a  conclusive  proof  that 


OPENING   THE    CRATERS 


243 


244      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

open  pit  sinking  was  no  longer  feasible  even  for  the  richest 
claim-holders.  About  four  million  cubic  yards  of  reef  had  been 
hauled  at  a  cost  of  nearly  ^2,000,000,  yet  there  was  no  check 
to  the  reef  falls  and  slides.  At  the  close  of  the  year  the  Inspec- 
tor of  Mines  reported 
that  "  only  about  fifty 
claims  had  been  regularly 
worked  during  the  past 
year."  The  field  for  the 
operation  of  individual 
claim-holders  was  deci- 
sively closed.  The  only 
hope  for  the  mine  was  in 
the  prosecution  of  deep 
and  extensive  under- 
ground works  by  the 
combination  of  claims  in 
hands  able  to  conduct 
such  operations  success- 
fully. 

In  advance  of  such 
an  undertaking  the  yield 
of  the  mine  was  fortu- 
nately sustained  by  an 

The  Central  Company's  Shaft,  Kimberley  Mine,  1885.          CXDCrt     makeshift.          IVIr. 

Edward  Jones,  a  trained  mining  engineer,  had  been  one  of  the 
leading  contractors  for  the  removal  of  reef,  and  had  given  close 
study  to  the  problem  of  the  continuance  of  the  extraction  of  blue 
ground.  Through  his  design  and  insistent  confidence,  in  spite  of 
all  doubts  and  sneers,  a  shaft  was  sunk  through  the  mass  of  fallen 
reef  at  the  bottom  of  the  deepest  part  of  the  mine  by  lowering  a 
square  timber  frame  and  shovelling  out  the  loose  rock  from  the 
inside  of  the  enclosure.  The  frame  was  constructed  in  sections  on 
the  plan  of  a  coffer  dam,  adding  section  to  section  from  the  top  until 
a  stout  timber  shaft  passed  entirely  through  the  broken  shale  and 
entered  the  underlying  blue  ground.  The  shaft  was  then  read- 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


245 


ily  extended,  and  drifts  from  this  opening  were  made  through 
the  blue  ground.  The  peculiar  service  of  this  device  was  its 
saving  of  hundreds  of  feet  of  costly  shaft  cutting  through  the 
solid  reef  to  reach  the  blue  ground  —  a  very  desirable  contribu- 
tion at  a  time  when  the  richest  claim-holders  were  sharply  pinched 
by  the  failing  mine  and  the  discouragement  of  capital.  The  cost 
of  all  development  work  was  defrayed  by  the  blue  ground 
extracted  in  opening  the  drifts  and  cross-cuts,  so  that  there  was 
no  further  delay  in  resuming  operations  in  the  mine.  The  first 
shaft  had  been  sunk  on  the  ground  owned  by  the  Central  Com- 
pany, and  it  was  soon  copied  by  a  number  of  similar  shafts  in 
other  parts  of  the  mine.  This  brought  about  a  most  welcome 


s 


The  Bottom  of  Kimberley  Mine,  1885. 


revival  of  mining,  and  was  so  far  highly  beneficial  to  the  labor- 
ers, claim-owners,  and  townspeople  of  Kimberley,  though  it  was 
not  designed  for  permanent  service. 

While  the  blue  ground  was  being  removed  through  shafts 
sunk  in  the  bottom  of  the  open  mine,  it  was  apparent  to  all  that 


246      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

the  life  of  these  shafts  must  be  very  short.  Preparation  was 
therefore  made  for  future  work  by  sinking  shafts  outside  the 
margin  of  the  open  mine,  and  at  sufficient  distance  from  it  to 
insure  them  against  any  probable  caving  of  the  surface  ground 
in  their  vicinity.  Vertical  shafts  were  sunk  by  the  Central  and 
French  companies,  and  tunnels  driven  from  them.  The  plan 
of  Kimberley  mine,  1883,  shows  these  tunnels. 


.WMBERUr 


Before  describing  the  subsequent  application  of  engineering 
science  to  underground  mining,  it  is  desirable  to  trace  the  prog- 
ress of  the  other  mines  on  the  fields  to  the  period  in  develop- 
ment reached  by  the  leader.  The  claim-owners  in  De  Beers 
mine  profited  greatly  by  the  object  lessons  given  in  the  opening 
of  the  great  pit  of  Kimberley.  For  the  first  twelve  years  after 
the  discovery  of  the  mines,  the  Kimberley  mine  ran  far  ahead  of 
the  others  from  the  superiority  of  its  yield  for  some  distance 
below  the  surface.  The  fatal  error  of  the  neglect  of  the  claim- 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


247 


Reef  Slips,  Kimberley  Mine,  1874. 


Kimberley  Mine,  showing  how  the  Ground  cracked  before  Subsidence. 


248      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


owners  and  Mining  Board  to  cut  back  the  mine  walls  was  appar- 
ent in  time  to  save  many  thousands  of  pounds  to  De  Beers. 
This  mine  was  also  fortunate  in  the  comparative  hardness  and 
stability  of  the  basaltic  rock  stratum  overlying  the  shale  and 
forming  the  marginal  top  of  its  pit  walls.  By  cutting  back  the 
reef  in  terraces,  the  De  Beers  Mining  Board  saved  the  mine 


from  any  serious  rock  falls  for  a  con- 
years.  Only  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
of  reef  were  removed  in  the  five 
1882,  but  this  sufficed  to 
the  time.  The  cost  of 


siderable  number  of 
thousand  cubic  yards 
years  ending  with 
protect  the  mine  for 
its  removal  was  only 
slight  burden  com- 
the  charges  at  Kim- 
mine,  and  showing  a 


The  Central  Compan 


cost  per  yard  or  per  load  of  reef  raised  much  less  than  the  Kim- 
berley  average.  This  was  a  signal  demonstration  of  the  advan- 
tage of  prudently  cutting  away  the  reef  before  it  fell  into  the  pit 
and  buried  prolific  claims  and  increased  the  hauling  charges. 

This  precaution,  however,  did  not  suffice  to  shield  the  mine 
from  disaster  when  the  pit  was  greatly  deepened  after  the  reef 
falls  at  Kimberley  had  diverted  mining  enterprise  to  De  Beers. 
Over  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  cubic  yards  of  solid 
and  broken  reef  were  removed  in  1883  and  1884,  but  reef  slides 
were  fast  increasing,  and  it  was  judged  necessary  by  the  Min- 
ing Board  to  stop  any  further  outlay  for  reef  hauling  when  the 
mine  bottom  was  350  feet  below  the  surface.  The  diamond- 
bearing  ground  had  then  been  scooped  out  of  the  larger  part  of 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


249 


The  Last  of  Open  Working,  Kimberley  Mine,  1889. 

the  funnel,  but  there  was  still  a  large  area  of  yellow  ground  at 
the  west  end  which  had  not  yet  been  extracted  because  it  con- 
tained so  few  diamonds  compared  with  the  other  parts  of  the 
mine.  The  falls  of  reef  had  covered  the  eastern  end  of  the 


250      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


mine,  and  early  in  1885  the  west  end  yellow  ground  caved  in, 
and  an  enormous  mass  of  nearly  five  million  cubic  feet  fell  in 
one  day  to  the  bottom  of  the  mine,  overlapping  the  fallen  reef 
and  burying  the  claims  still  open  for  work.  This  disastrous  fall 
forced  the  stoppage  of  mining  for  six  months  until  some  part  of 
the  reef  and  yellow  ground  could  be  taken  out,  and  mining  was 
then  resumed  in  a  partial  and  half-hearted  way  in  the  open  pit, 
though  it  was  evident  that  further  pit  sinking  in  the  face  of  such 

disasters  was  irrational  mining. 

The  only  possible  resource 
was  the  introduction  of  a  system 
of  underground  mining,  and  the 
first  attempt  in  this  direction  was 
made  in  1884  by  the  opening  of 
a  large  circular  shaft  at  a  point 
1000  feet  from  the  north  margin 
of  the  mine.  This  shaft  was  sunk 
vertically  about  320  feet  in  the 
reef  and  then  abandoned  as  too 
costly.  In  its  place  an  incline 
was  sunk,  starting  from  a  point 
about  150  feet  from  the  west 
side  of  the  claims,  and  entering 
the  mine  at  the  edge  of  the  amyg- 
daloidal  trap  underlying  the  basalt 
and  shale,  so  as  to  avoid  the  expense  of  cutting  through  this 
hard  rock.  This  work  was  begun  none  too  soon,  for  before  the 
end  of  the  year  1887  further  open  pit  working  was  proved  to 
be  utterly  impracticable,  and  was  wholly  abandoned  when  the 
deepest  open  digging  had  been  carried  in  three  years  only  fifty 
feet  farther  than  the  depth  of  350  feet  reached  in  1884. 

Dutoitspan  mine  opening  was  practically  the  same  as  the 
course  followed  in  Kimberley  and  De  Beers.  Owing  to  the  com- 
parative poorness  of  the  diamond-bearing  ground,  pit  sinking 
was  not  pushed  as  rapidly  as  it  was  at  Kimberley,  and,  in  1874, 
most  of  the  miners  went  over  to  Kimberley  and  were  glad  of  the 


R.  D.  Atkins.     (Manager  of  Kimberley 
Mine  in  the  earlier  days.) 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


251 


No.  2  Incline  Shaft,  De  Beers  Mine. 

chance  of  working  over  the  "  waste  ground "  which  had  been 
cast  away  from  the  cradles  and  sieves  of  the  early  diggers.  Two 
years  later,  when  improved  methods  of  handling  the  ground 
were  coming  into  use,  the  miners  flocked  back  to  the  abandoned 
ground  and  took  out  fresh  claims.  Warned  by  the  experience 
of  Kimberley,  a  circle  of  solid  blue  ground  was  left  as  a  buttress 
against  slides  and  falls  of  the  encasing  reef  of  shale,  and  for  ten 
years  this  expedient  served  to  shield  the  miners. 

But  this  safeguard  failed  when  the  open  working  had  reached 
a  few  hundred  feet  in  depth.     Warning  surface  cracks  had  been 


Eldorado  Road,  Dutoitspan  Mine,  1874. 


252      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

noticed  on  the  northern  margin  of  the  mine,  but  the  ardent 
diamond  seekers  kept  on  digging  recklessly,  until  one  day  in 
March,  1886,  when  a  huge  mass  of  blue  ground  and  reef  broke 
away  suddenly  from  the  northern  end  of  the  mine  and  rolled 
over  like  the  surge  of  a  monstrous  breaker,  falling  hundreds  of 
feet  with  a  fearful  crash  upon  the  doomed  men  at  the  bottom  of 


Claims  in  Dutoiispan  Mine. 

the  pit.  The  loss  of  life  would  have  been  frightful,  but  happily 
for  the  miners  the  fall  was  at  the  noon  dinner  hour,  when  the 
work  of  hoisting  blue  ground  was  stopped  and  blasting  in  the 
mine  was  begun.  Most  of  the  workmen  had  left  the  mine,  but 
eighteen  poor  fellows  —  eight  white  men  and  ten  Kafirs —  had 
taken  shelter  from  the  blasting  in  a  pumping  engine  house  in 
the  pit.  The  avalanche  of  rock  fell  on  the  house,  and  every  one 
in  it  was  fatally  crushed  or  scalded  by  the  escaping  steam.  One 
hundred  thousand  cubic  yards  of  shale  and  blue  ground  buried 
the  claims  on  the  pit  bottom,  and  this  fall  was  followed  by  others 
which  ruined  the  open  workings  in  1887,  when  the  mine  had 
reached  a  depth  of  400  feet. 

In  Bultfontein  there  was  only  another  variation  of  the  same 
tale  of  open  pit  working  and  final  wreck.  The  work  of  extract- 
ing the  yellow  and  blue  ground  was  well  planned  at  the  outset, 
under  existing  circumstances,  by  the  cutting  of  inclined  road- 
ways over  which  the  ground  was  hauled  in  bullock  carts.  In 


OPENING   THE    CRATERS 


253 


1880  effective  hauling  machinery  was  substituted  for  the  carts, 
and  the  precious  ground  was  extracted  so  rapidly  that  the  depth 
of  about  five  hundred  feet  was  reached  in  the  open  working,  a 
point  probably  beyond  any  attained  in  the  other  pits.  Here, 
too,  as  at  De  Beers,  there  was  an  effort  to  protect  the  mine  by 
cutting  back  the  reef  in  terraces  ;  but  this  safeguard  was  tried 
too  late,  and  in  any  event  it  could  only  have  deferred  for  a  few 
years  the  fate  of  the  mine.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  1889 
almost  the  whole  of  the  pit  bottom  was  covered  with  fallen  reef 
and  only  four  engines  were  at  work  hauling  blue  ground. 

The  Extraction  of  the  Diamonds 

While  the  sinking  of  the  pits  was  progressing  with  improved 
mining  appliances,  there  had  been  a  considerable  advance  in  the 
methods  of  concentrating  the  diamond-bearing  ground  and  win- 


Bultfontein  Mine,  1879. 

ning  the  diamonds.  For  the  first  three  years  after  the  opening 
of  the  mines,  the  handling  of  precious  ground  was  exceedingly 
crude  and  wasteful.  The  broken  ground  taken  from  the  craters 
was  crushed  more  or  less  finely  by  pounding  with  shovels  and 


154      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

mallets  and  clubs.  Then  it  was  sifted  in  rocking  troughs,  fitted 
with  sieves  like  the  placer  miners'  cradles,  and  the  concentrate  of 
pebbles  and  crystals  and  coarse  rock  grains  was  spread  on  tables, 
or  sheets  of  iron  and  wood  laid  on  the  ground,  where  it  was 
scraped  over  by  hand,  and  the  gems  picked  out.  In  this  rough 
process  a  third  and  perhaps  a  half  of  the  smaller  crystals  were  left 
in  the  waste  ground,  and  the  losses  from  theft  were  enormous. 

In  1874  there  was  a  change  for  the  better  in  the  introduc- 
tion of  water  in  concentrating.     By  building  dams  and  sinking 


The  First  Rotary  Washing  Machine. 

wells  the  water  supply  of  the  camp  was  increased  materially,  and 
it  was  possible  to  divert  a  portion  for  the  diamond-washing 
appliances.  Most  of  the  early  machines  for  this  purpose  were 
simple  cradles  with  riffles  or  ridges  set  at  intervals  on  the 
bottom,  and  a  sieve  at  the  end.  The  pulverized  ground  was 
dumped  into  a  cradle  with  a  sufficient  flow  of  water  to  carry  off 
the  slime,  while  the  rocking  shook  the  ground,  and  caused  a 
settling  of  the  heavier  mineral  deposit  at  the  bottom.  With  one 
of  these  rockers  from  six  to  thirteen  cartloads  of  ground  were 
washed  in  a  day.  Another  device  was  a  circular  trough  or  pan, 


OPENING   THE    CRATERS 


255 


fitted  with  a  revolving  set  of  iron  teeth  like  a  comb,  that  stirred 
the  ground  and  water  and  caused  the  settling  of  the  concentrate. 


Another  Early  Washing  Machine,  1874. 

This  puddling  trough  would  concentrate  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty-five  cartloads  in  a  working  day  and  cost  at  first,  about 
^250,  while  the  simpler  cradle  could  be  bought  for  ^£15,  or 
less.  There  were  other  more  elaborate  devices,  but  their  cost 
put  them  out  of  the  reach  of  the  ordinary  digger.  All  were 
based  on  one  adaptation  or  another  of  the  puddling  principle, 
and  the  fall  and  separation  of  minerals  of  different  specific 
gravities. 

The    sorting   of  the   concentrate   from    the 
puddling    troughs    was    done    by    the    same 
method    employed    after    the    dry    sifting, 
but  there  was  some  improvement  in  the 


Horse-power  Washing  Machine,  1875. 


256      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


257 


. 


258       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


precautions  against  loss  by  theft.  The  natives,  who  were  com- 
monly employed  in  scraping  and  picking  over  the  mineral  de- 
posit, were  more  carefully  watched.  Some  were  lodged  in  tents 
and  sheds  adjoining  the  stables  belonging  to  claim-owners,  and 
there  was  some  oversight  of  them  by  night  as  well  as  by  day. 
When  the  claim-owners  combined  in  companies,  their  workmen 
were  frequently  kept  together  in  enclosures  called  "compounds," 
where  they  were  furnished  with  food  and  shelter  at  moderate 
charges  deducted  from  their  pay.  This  sepa- 
ration and  partial  restriction  was  of  undoubted 
service,  not  only  in  diminishing  the  oppor- 
tunities for  successful  theft  and  disposal 


Washing  Gear,  Bultfontein  Mine. 

of  stolen  diamonds,  but  in  checking  the  drunkenness  of  the  black 
workmen  and  the  outbreaks  in  the  canteens  and  streets. 

Progress  was  made,  too,  though  much  too  slowly,  in  the 
more  perfect  pulverization  of  the  blue  ground.  It  was  soon 
observed  that  the  broken  ground  would  crumble  upon  exposure 
to  the  air,  and  after  some  weeks  or  months,  according  to  its 
hardness,  a  mass  of  breccia,  thinly  spread  out  and  raked  over, 
would  be  very  largely  decomposed  to  fine  sand  fit  for  washing, 
without  further  treatment.  This  natural  pulverization  was  far 
cheaper  and  better  than  crushing  with  mallets ;  but  the  burden 
of  accumulating  and  storing  great  quantities  of  ground  was  too 
heavy  for  the  ordinary  claim-holder,  who  was  dependent  upon 
quick  returns :  so  only  the  larger  companies  maintained  stores 


OPENING   THE    CRATERS 


259 


of  ground  on  their  depositing  places  or  "  floors,"  and  none  of 
these,  even,  were  disposed  to  wait  for  the  adequate  pulverization 
of  the  ground  by  the  natural  agencies  of  the  sun,  air,  and  rain. 
Still  the  floors  were  gradually  enlarged  on  the  veld,  and  were 
frequently  fenced  in  with  wire.  Year  by  year  an  increasing 
proportion  of  blue  ground  was  pulverized.  The  average  yield 
of  a  truck  load,  or  sixteen  cubic  feet  of  blue  ground,  from  Kim- 


steam  Washing  Gear,  Kimberley  Mine. 

berley  mine,  was  computed  to  be  one  carat  in  diamonds,  a  valu- 
ation ranging  from  twenty-eight  to  thirty-six  shillings,  according 
to  prevailing  market  rates. 

The  mining  camps  changed,  year  by  year,  more  completely 
to  the  appearance  of  thriving  mining  towns.  De  Beers  fused 
with  De  Beers  New  Rush  in  the  town  of  Kimberley,  while 
the  town  of  Dutoitspan  rose  on  its  camp  site  two  miles  away. 
The  connecting  roadway  was  lined  with  straggling  houses. 
There  was  little  available  timber  fit  for  building  purposes,  but 
galvanized  iron  was  very  largely  substituted  for  the  canvas  tents 
during  the  first  ten  years,  and,  from  1880  on,  many  brick  build- 
ings were  erected  at  Kimberley.  Outside  of  the  main  business 
street  there  was  little  attempt  at  first, to  lay  out  regular  avenues, 


260      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

and  the  diggers  shifted  their  tents  or  "  tin  houses "  to  any 
vacant  place  that  suited  their  fancy.  The  little  galvanized  iron 
buildings  were  so  light  and  strongly  riveted  that  they  could  be 
picked  up  and  carried  away  by  a  few  strong  Kafirs.  But  with 


Webb's  Washing  Machine,  1878. 

the  growth  of  the  towns  stands  became  more  valuable,  and  title 
and  possession  were  more  sharply  looked  after.  In  1876  the 
valuation  of  the  town  of  Kimberley  for  assessment  or  taxation 
purposes  was  $5,151,500.  Churches,  schools,  banks,  hotels, 
theatres,  concert  rooms,  and  stores  and  offices  of  various  kinds 
were  erected  to  answer  the  demands  of  a  prospering  mining  town. 
Sidewalks  were  laid  along  the  principal  streets,  and  after  1874 
there  was  a  regular  appropriation  for  street  watering.  The 
houses  grew  in  size  and  stability.  Verandas  and  porticoes  were 
added  in  place  of  the  roof  projections  that  gave  a  little  shade  to 
the  early  diggers,  and  many  of  the  dwellings  were  set  with  a 
fringe  of  garden  in  front  or  on  the  sides,  in  which  fruit  trees  and 
vines  and  choice  flowers  were  planted. 

With  the  advance  of  the  diggings  in  depth,  the  combination 


OPENING   THE    CRATERS 


261 


of  claims,  and  the  ending  of  widespread  prospecting,  the  influx  of 
whites  to  the  camps  fell  off  greatly.  The  shifting  population 
of  prospectors  dropped  to  the  number  that  could  find  employ- 
ment in  the  mines  or  in  the  dependent  towns.  It  was  estimated 
in  1876  that  the  white  population  of  Kimberley  was  about  eight 
thousand,  and  the  native  from  twelve  to  fifteen  thousand.  In 
Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein  there  were  perhaps  six  thousand 
more  of  whites  and  blacks. 

The  character  of  this  population  has  been  most  absurdly 
decried.  "  The  Diamond  Fields  of  South  Africa,"  writes  one 
flighty  reporter,  "  have  been  hot-beds  of  rowdyism.  The  liber- 
tines, forgers,  bird-catchers,  and  other  outcasts  of  Europe  have 
found  a  refuge  there  as  in  Alsatia  of  old.  The  Houndsditch  Jew 
and  the  London  rough  reign  supreme."  Thousands  of  wit- 
nesses might  be  summoned,  if  necessary,  to  refute  this  nonsense. 
Libertines  and  forgers  drift  elsewhere  for  prey  than  to  hot,  dusty 


Cape  of  Good  Hope  Company's  Washing  Gear,  1878. 

mining  camps  in  the  midst  of  the  karoo ;  though  dainty  folk 
might  shrink  from  the  roughness  and  grime  of  the  diamond  dig- 
gings, and  weak  nerves  might  be  shaken  by  the  boisterous  exu- 
berance of  the  bustling  camp,  the  restless  crowd  tramping  the 
streets,  the  uproarious  canteens  and  music  halls,  and  the  capers 


262      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

of  motley  diggers  and  wild  Africans.  Liquor  drinking  ran  to 
excess,  as  it  always  does  in  a  prosperous  mining  camp,  and  the 
natives  especially  were  given  to  drunkenness  ;  but  the  wildest 
sprees  rarely  threatened  danger  to  life,  for  the  hot  spirits  were 
blown  off  in  yells,  chants,  and  dances.  Every  accurate  record 
shows  that  murder  and  robbery  and  the  more  flagrant  and  brutal 
crimes  were  notably  rare  compared  with  the  showing  of  the  early 
American  and  Australian  mining  camps ;  and  when  the  turbu- 
lence of  the  rush  was  over,  and  the  bubbling  camps  simmered 
down  to  the  comparative  order  and  steadiness  of  the  working 


Washing  Gear,  Dutoitspan  Mine. 

mining  towns,  there  was  little  disturbance  from  any  outbreak 
of  ruffianism.  In  spite  of  all  demoralizing  influences,  the  con- 
servative and  civilizing  agencies  and  public  spirit  that  advance 
communities  and  exalt  good  citizenship  gained  in  force  year  by 
year  on  the  Diamond  Fields. 

Notable  progress  was  made  in  the  provisions  for  the  health 
and  security  of  the  towns.  The  most  crying  need,  from  the 
first,  had  been  pure  and  abundant  water.  The  average  rainfall 
of  the  mining  field  was  only  17.5  inches,  and  the  suffering  from 
the  lack  of  water  in  the  dry  season  was  scarcely  endurable. 
Much  was  done  to  improve  and  increase  the  supply  by  the  sink- 
ing of  wells  and  extension  of  natural  reservoirs  and  the  more 


OPENING   THE   CRATERS 


263 


general  introduction  of  filtering  appliances.  Dr.  Morton  noted 
in  1876  a  marked  advance  in  the  health  of  the  population  on 
the  Fields.  The  death  rate  at  Kimberley,  he  said,  was  exceed- 
ingly small.  The  most  sickly  months  of  the  year  were  August 
and  January,  marking  the  effect  of  the  extremes  of  cold  and 
heat.  Outside  of  the  ailments  incident  to  the  dust  and  exposure 
and  sudden  variations  of  temperature,  there  was  little  disease, 
and  he  particularly  observed  the  complete  immunity  of  the 
field  from  hydrophobia,  though  every  man,  woman,  and  child 
appeared  to  have  a  dog  at  their  heels. 


Washing  Gear,  Bultfontein  Mine,  1878. 

It  was  soon  perceived,  however,  that  a  more  certain  and 
sufficient  supply  of  water  must  be  obtained  to  meet  the  growing 
demands  of  the  towns  and  mines.  This  was  secured  through 
the  enterprise  of  the  men  associated  in  the  Kimberley  Water 
Works  Company,  by  the  construction  of  a  pumping  station  at 
Riverton  on  the  Vaal  River  and  the  laying  of  a  main  sixteen 
miles  in  length  to  a  reservoir  on  a  ridge  of  the  Bultfontein 
farm,  near  Kimberley.  The  water  from  the  river  was  raised  in 
three  stages  by  powerful  compound  condensing  engines,  and  car- 
ried to  the  large  reservoir  on  the  ridge,  five  hundred  feet  above 


264      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

the  river  level.  From  this  reservoir  it  was  distributed  by  a  pipe 
and  hydrant  system  to  the  towns  and  the  mines.  Since  the 
construction  of  this  fine  plant,  the  towns  have  been  supplied  with 
filtered  water  at  a  cost  of  is.  per  100  gallons  ;  and  mines  using 
great  quantities  have  a  concession  materially  lowering  this  rate. 
The  amount  of  water  sold  to  Kimberley  annually  has  run  as 
high  as  230,000,000  gallons  and  more  than  300,000,000  have 
been  supplied  to  the  mines.  The  cost  of  the  machinery  and  plant 
was  over  ^300,000.  Mr.  E.  A.  Cowper,  the  consulting  engi- 
neer of  the  Water  Works  Company,  designed  the  machinery,  and 
Mr.  George  Buchanan,  C.E.,  was  the  constructing  engineer  in 
the  erection  of  the  plant. 

The  maintenance  of  peace  and  order  on  the  Diamond  Fields 
was  helped  forward  materially  by  the  construction  of  "  com- 
pounds," providing  good  lodging  and  food  for  the  natives,  check- 
ing their  drunkenness,  promoting  steady  industry,  and  enforcing 
restrictions  essential  to  the  common  security.  The  police  force 
of  the  towns  was  from  the  start  so  small  that  the  tolera- 
tion of  this  condition  attests  the  comparative  rarity  of  brutal 
crimes  on  the  Fields.  Its  very  marked  improvement  with  the 
growth  of  the  town,  in  later  years,  was  rather  due  to  the  rising 
demand  for  advance  in  every  civic  and  social  condition  than  to 
any  increase  in  disorderly  conduct  or  the  commission  of  crimes. 

Diamond  stealing  and  illicit  diamond  buying  were,  beyond 
all  question,  the  worst  plague  of  the  camps  and  towns.  Outside 
of  this  line  of  operation  there  was  practically  no  opening  and  no 
temptation  for  the  professional  thief  and  receiver  of  stolen  goods ; 
but  the  opportunities  were  unfortunately  too  apparent  and  easy 
for  filching  and  disposing  of  diamonds.  The  sharpest  oversight 
could  scarcely  prevent  nimble-fingered  workers  from  slyly  secret- 
ing tiny  crystals  in  picking  over  the  concentrates  on  the  sorting 
tables  or  in  handling  the  deposit  in  the  rockers  and  puddling  pans. 
While  the  natives  were  allowed  to  rove  about  freely  after  their 
day's  work  was  done,  they  had  little  difficulty  in  transferring  the 
diamonds  to  the  hands  of  the  sharpers,  who  were  always  in  wait 
for  the  chance  of  buying  stolen  stones  for  little  money. 


OPENING  THE  CRATERS  265 

Offices  were  opened  by  diamond  buyers  in  the  mining  towns, 
either  as  independent  merchants  or  as  representatives  of  large, 
foreign  wholesale  dealers  and  diamond  cutters,  and  besides  these 
established  purchasers,  there  were  a  number  of  traders  who  made 
regular  rounds  through  the  diggings,  buying  from  claim-owners 
in  their  tents  or  houses  or  at  the  sorting  table.  These  peripa- 
tetic dealers  were  familiarly  known  as  "  kopje  wallopers,"  for 
kopjes  were  the  sites  of  the  chief  surface  digging.  No  doubt 
there  were  dishonest  men  among  these  dealers,  small  and  large ; 
for  the  frequent  temptations  were  too  strong  for  slight  scruples, 
and  it  is  certain  also  that  many  diamonds  were  bought  under 
cover  by  saloon  and  shop  keepers  and  other  speculative  traders 
who  came  into  familiar  contact  with  the  diggers. 

It  is  plain  that  it  was  impossible  to  trace  or  identify  a  stolen 
diamond,  even  when  the  theft  was  known,  and  great  quantities 
of  gems  were  secretly  bought  and  carried  to  the  coast  towns 
for  sale  or  forwarded  stealthily  to  foreign  markets.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  fully  fifty  per  cent  of  the  diamonds  taken  from 
the  diggings  in  the  early  years  were  secreted  and  sold  specula- 
tively.  This  is  undoubtedly  an  extravagant  reckoning,  but 
there  is  no  question  that  a  large  percentage  were  filched  away. 

To  give  some  idea  of  the  enormous  quantity  of  diamonds 
that  were  stolen  in  the  early  days  of  the  fields,  and  before  the 
compound  system  was  adopted,  the  following  notice  is  repro- 
duced :  — 

NOTICE 

The  undermentioned  rough  and  uncut  diamonds  having  from  time 
to  time  been  recovered  by  this  Department,  notice  is  hereby  given  to  all 
whom  it  may  concern,  that  unless  proof  of  the  bona  fide  right  to  the 
possession  of  such  diamonds  be  given,  or  a  proper  permit  for  the  same 
be  produced  within  ten  days  from  the  date  hereof,  such  diamonds  will  be 
sold  and  the  proceeds  of  such  sale  carried  to  the  account  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

JOHN  FRY, 

Chief  of  Detective  Department  of  Griqualand  West. 
MAY  24th,  1883. 


266      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Underneath  the  notice  was  a  schedule  showing  — 
The  number  of  carats.          From  whom  recovered.          How  acquired. 

The  number  of  carats  ranged  from  half  a  carat  to  6375 
carats,  which  were  found  in  the  possession  of  one  man.  The 
total  number  reached  8443  carats,  which  were  recovered  from 
fifty  persons.  Two  days  later  a  similar  notice  appeared  stating 
that  1573^  carats  had  been  recovered,  having  been  found  in  the 
possession  of  a  well-known  dealer  in  illicit  diamonds.  The 
total  value  of  these  two  lots  would  amount  to  £30,000  or 
.£40,000. 

The  practice  of  illicit  diamond  buying  was  so  persistent  and 
obnoxious  that  it  was  curtly  styled  I.  D.  B.,  and  the  strictest 
possible  regulations  were  made  to  check  it  and  punish  offenders. 
A  Special  Court  was  established  in  1 8  So1  to  try  cases  of  this  kind, 
and  a  special  police  force  formed  with  warrant  to  make  the  most 
rigorous  search  of  suspected  thieves  and  receivers.  Under  the 
Diamond  Trade  Act  every  parcel  of  diamonds  taken  from  the 
Fields  must  be  formally  described  and  registered,  and  every 
transfer  recorded  from  the  date  of  discovery  till  the  final  ship- 
ment from  the  Cape  Colony.  No  person  was  permitted  to  deal 
in  diamonds  unless  he  held  a  formal  license,  and  his  record  books 
of  purchase  and  sale  were  always  open  to  police  inspection. 
Thefts  of  diamonds  and  illicit  purchasers  were  punished  with  all 
possible  rigor. 

1  A  Special  Court  was  established  under  ordinance  No.  8  of  1880.  A  barrister 
was  appointed  as  special  magistrate  to  act  with  the  resident  magistrate  and  the  addi- 
tional resident  magistrate.  Under  Act  No.  48  of  1882  the  special  court  for  min- 
ing offences  consisted  of  three  persons,  of  whom  at  least  one  was  a  judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  The  other  two  were  usually  the  resident  magistrate  and  the  civil 
commissioner.  By  proclamation  No.  144,  dated  September  I,  1882,  the  districts  of 
Kimberley,  Herbert,  Hay,  and  Barkly  were  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Special 
Court.  Act  No.  34  of  1888  provided  that  the  Special  Court  should  consist  of  three 
members,  two  of  whom  must  be  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Persons  convicted 
by  the  Special  Court  might  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court. 


CHAPTER    IX 


THE    MOVING    MEN 

N  the  rush  of  adventurers  over  the  Diamond 
Fields  the  individual  was  inevitably  merged  in 
the  mass.  He  might  feel  the  pulse  of  latent 
powers,  the  unslaked  thirst  of  ambition,  but 
he  must  be  for  the  time  no  more  than  a  drop 
of  water  in  the  rapid,  a  locust  in  the  swarm. 
He  was  one  of  a  myriad  which  exulted  in  the  enforced  equality 
of  living  and  opportunity. 

There  can  scarcely  be  a  purer  democracy  than  an  infant 
camp  in  such  a  field.  Imperial  sovereignty  or  feeble  state  asser- 
tion barely  cast  a  shadow  of  authority  over  the  stretch  of  "  No 
Man's  Land,"  the  chrysalis  of  the  Colony  of  Griqualand  West. 
One  man  here  was  as  good  as  another  in  his  own  mind,  and  free 
to  maintain  it.  In  the  seething  stream  of  humanity  that  poured 
into  the  Diamond  Fields  it  mattered  not  whether  one  was  to  the 
manor  born  or  cradled  in  a  manger,  the  son  of  a  peer  or  a  beg- 
gar's brat.  In  the  hot  scramble  for  diamonds  in  the  dirt,  all 
ranks  were  levelled.  The  rough  sailor  jostled  the  captain,  the 
university  graduate  swung  his  pick  side  by  side  with  the  navvy, 
and  the  last  of  the  Vere  de  Veres  snored  in  his  sheepskin  kaross 
back  to  back  with  a  hopeless  Japhet.  The  representative 
"  Diggers'  Committee  "  was  merely  the  executive  hand  of  the 
body  of  prospectors,  the  instrument  of  the  will  of  the  masses. 
The  distribution  of  the  diamond  beds  from  the  start  marked 
the  strain  for  equality,  the  hostility  to  aggrandizement ;  and  the 
relation,  of  demand  to  supply  compelled  the  division  into  little 
patches  of  holdings.  It  was  years  before  the  acquisition  of  more 
than  two  claims  by  one  person  was  tolerated,  and  only  imperious 

267 


268       THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


necessity  forced  the  further  consolidation  of  claims  when  the 
mines  had  reached  a  depth  that  made  patch-working  impracticable. 
In  this  mass  movement  and  equalizing  of  opportunity,  the 
rise  and  display  of  strong  individuality  were  necessarily  subdued 
and  slow  to  appear.  In  the  years  of  the  rush  and  the  early 
advance  of  the  mines,  it  is  the  life  of  the  mass  and  not  of  the 
fractional  unit  that  makes  the  history  of  the  Fields.  But  with 
changing  conditions,  as  the  years  rolled  on,  the  way  was  opened 
for  individual  assertion,  influence,  and  distinction.  Then  the 
men,  hitherto  unmarked,  stood  up  preeminent.  Then  the  brains 
that  were  capable  of  great  conceptions  and  great  performances 
found  pressing  occasion  for  all  their  foresight  and  energy.  The 
history  of  the  great  mines  that  have  explored  the  diamond-bear- 
ing craters  so  far  beyond  the  pitfalls  of  the  prospecting  diggers 
is  very  essentially  a  story  of  remarkable  men. 

In  July,  1873,  a  young  Hebrew,  Barnett  Isaacs,  took  passage 
from  England  to  Cape  Town  at  the  call  of  his  brother  from  the 

new  Diamond  Fields.  His 
grandfather  was  a  learned  and 
honored  rabbi,  and  the  good 
standing  of  his  family  was 
marked  by  the  marriage  of 
his  father,  Isaac  Isaacs,  to  a 
relative  of  Sir  George  Jessels, 
Master  of  the  Rolls.  But  the 
son  of  the  rabbi  was  only  a 
small,  plodding,  frugal  shop- 
keeper in  London.  His  sons, 
Henry  and  Barnett,  were 
trained  in  the  excellent  He- 
brew Free  School  in  Spital- 
fields,but  both  boys  left  school 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  to  help  their  father  in  his  shop.  Henry 
was  drawn  away  in  the  current  of  the  early  rush  to  the  Diamond 
Fields  in  1871,  and  had  such  success  as  a  kopje  walloper  that  he 
wrote  home  to  urge  his  brother  to  join  him. 


Barnett  Isaacs. 


THE    MOVING    MEN  269 

To  the  restless  spirit  and  purely  speculative  mind  of  Barnett 
Isaacs  there  was  magnetic  attraction  in  such  a  field  with  its 
novel  and  gleaming  opportunities.  With  instant  decision  he 
took  the  steamer  for  Cape  Town,  and  made  the  tiresome  trip 
over  veld  and  karoo  to  Kimberley  with  unfailing  pluck  and 
good  temper. 

He  was  only  twenty  years  old,  and  outwardly  no  more  than 
a  light-hearted  boy,  bubbling  over  with  high  spirits  and  comical 
conceits.  But  his  fondness  for  athletic  sports,  theatrical  extrava- 
ganzas, and  practical  jokes,  and  his  contempt  for  conventional 
restraints,  were  merely  the  surface  froth  covering  invincible 
energy  and  facile  grasp  of  opportunities.  He  had  an  unshak- 
able self-reliance,  a  quick  perception,  and  a  fertile  resourceful- 
ness that  bore  him  up  when  feebler  men  sank.  One  could 
scarcely  cast  him  in  any  society  or  any  place  on  earth,  where  his 
nimble  wits  would  not  win  him  a  living. 

The  impulse  to  go  ahead  was  in  his  blood.  "  It  has  always 
been  a  superstition  with  me,"  he  said,  "  never  to  turn  back." 
He  grew  apace  with  the  calls  upon  his  powers.  He  did  not  pro- 
fess to  know  more  than  he  knew,  but  he  was  never  content  to 
know  anything  that  interested  him  by  report.  "  I  must  look 
into  everything  that  concerns  me  for  myself."  This  determina- 
tion was  a  safeguard.  He  once  boasted,  in  a  rare  fit  of  parade, 
that  he  had  never  made  a  mistake  in  his  investment  of  money 
in  his  life.  But  his  incessant  activity  was  fatally  wearing.  He 
could  not  dawdle.  He  could  hardly  rest.  For  many  years  his 
extraordinary  vitality  and  endurance  kept  him  running.  He 
had  the  precious  faculty  of  dropping  off  to  sleep  at  any  moment 
of  relaxation,  and  awaking  after  slumbering  for  a  few  moments. 
Nevertheless  no  creature  of  flesh  and  blood  could  endure  the 
strain  which  he  bore  and  recklessly  courted.  "  Some  day  such 
a  bundle  of  quivering  nerves  must  snap,  either  life  or  brain  must 
go,"  said  one  of  his  closest  friends.  But  when  young  Barnett 
Isaacs  wandered  into  Dutoitspan,  "fit  for  anything,"  as  he  him- 
self declared,  after  his  long  tramp  and  meals  of  porridge  and 
biltong,  nobody  saw  in  him  the  raw  material  of  one  of  the 


I7o      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

remarkable  financiers  of  the  century,  or  forecast,  even  dimly,  the 
meteoric  career  of  Barney  Barnato. 

His  brother  Henry  had  fancied  and  taken  the  name  of  Bar- 
nato, as  a  professional  shift  from  his  own  family  name,  when  he 
first  came  to  the  Diamond  Fields  and  tried  his  luck  first  as  a 
conjurer  and  vaudeville  performer,  relying  upon  the  sleight  of 
hand  proficiency  which  he  had  gained  in  boyish  practice  to 
amuse  his  friends.  Henry  soon  turned  his  hand  to  the  more 
profitable  business  of  a  diamond  trader,  but  his  stage  name  stuck 
to  him,  and  passed  naturally  to  his  younger  brother,  who  accepted 
it  with  easy  indifference.  So  young  Barnett  Isaacs  became 
familiarly  known  as  "  Barney  Barnato,"  and  for  the  first  year 
or  two  of  his  life  on  the  Diamond  Fields  floated  along  in  the 
current  as  "  Harry  Barnato's  brother."  But  his  head  never 
sank  below  the  surface  for  a  moment.  His  first  buoy  was 
a  cigar  box.  He  had  money  enough  to  buy  sixty  boxes  of 
cigars  after  paying  his  way  to  Kimberley.  With  this  working 
capital  he  went  into  partnership  with  Louis  Cohen,  another  new- 
comer, who  had  started  as  a  kopje  walloper.  The  two  young 
Hebrews  picked  out  a  shanty  to  their  liking  for  an  office.  It 
was  a  little  tin  shed,  eight  feet  by  six,  owned  by  an  Irishman 
who  offered  it  for  rent  at  a  guinea  a  day. 

"  That  is  ridiculous,"  said  Cohen. 

"I  don't  know  that,"  said  Barnato.  "The  situation  is  good, 
why  not  pay  a  guinea  a  day  if  you  can  make  thirty  shillings  ?  " 

This  keen  measuring  was  typical.  Barney  Barnato  never 
counted  cost  alone  if  he  wanted  anything,  but  weighed  it  instantly 
against  probable  profit.  He  was  never  a  thoughtless  or  reckless 
buyer.  He  did  not  shut  his  eyes  to  the  risks  of  loss.  On  the 
contrary,  he  reckoned  risks  with  exceptional  accuracy  and  pre- 
cision of  detail,  but  he  reckoned  profits  with  the  same  even- 
balanced  judgment.  Hence  he  was  not  afraid  to  venture  when 
others  shrank  back.  He  was  naturally  sanguine.  He  had  faith 
in  himself,  and  put  all  his  working  force  into  everything  that  he 
undertook.  So  his  high-pressure  energy,  persistently  maintained, 
won  success  where  a  weaker  and  idler  man  would  have  failed. 


THE    MOVING   MEN  271 

There  was  no  peculiar  luck  in  his  favor.  Thousands  around 
him  had  equal  chances  or  better.  He  went  to  the  front  because 
he  had  the  brains  to  choose  aright  and  the  working  powers  to 
make  his  choice  profitable.  He  made  mistakes  as  men  of  his 
sanguine  temper  must,  but  he  did  not  make  many  mistakes,  and 
no  fatal  or  even  greatly  damaging  ones. 

There  is  no  business  without  risks.  The  most  prudent  man 
cannot  engage  in  mining  or  in  trading  in  mineral  products  with- 
out risks.  If  hot-headed  speculation  has  swamped  fortunes  in 
such  a  field,  it  is  no  less  certain  that  overstrained  caution  has 
failed  to  win  anything  memorable.  There  is  a  happy  and  rare 
mean  of  sagacious  judgment  in  mining  operations,  and  Barney 
Barnato  proved  his  possession  of  such  judgment  incontestably. 
His  mind  worked  so  quickly,  and  his  mental  calculations  were 
so  exact  and  minute,  that  it  was  often  supposed  that  he  jumped 
at  conclusions.  "  Barnato's  snap  judgment,"  sneered  a  man 
whom  he  outbid  in  competition ;  "  Barnato's  sheer  luck," 
growled  the  man  who  saw  his  judgment  turn  to  gold. 

The  young  partners,  Barnato  and  Cohen,  worked  hard,  early 
and  late.  Barnato's  keen  eye  gained  a  valuable  business  con- 
nection in  a  way  that  suggests  his  kinship  to  Sherlock  Holmes. 

One  of  the  most  successful  "  kopje  wallopers  "  (a  name  given 
to  men  who  visited  the  various  miners'  huts  for  the  purpose  of 
buying  diamonds)  made  regular  rounds  through  the  diamond 
fields  on  an  old,  lame,  yellow  pony,  calling  on  men  who  had 
the  best  bargains  in  diamonds  to  offer.  Barnato  and  Cohen 
tried  repeatedly  to  follow  him,  but  his  track  was  soon  lost  in 
the  labyrinth  of  tents,  huts,  and  sand  heaps.  However,  Barnato 
was  able  to  see  that  the  trader's  pony  had  the  habit  of  stopping 
at  places  where  choice  bargains  were  made,  and  when  the  broken- 
down  beast  was  offered  for  sale  one  day  by  its  owner,  Barnato 
snapped  at  the  chance  to  buy  him  for  £17  IQJ.,  an  enormous 
price  for  the  old  pony  as  a  steed,  but  a  great  bargain  for  the 
keen  diamond  broker,  for  the  walloper's  business  went  with  his 
pony,  as  he  afterward  saw  to  his  chagrin. 

Soon  Barnato  became  known  as  a  "  walloping   walloper," 


472       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


and  in  the  third  year  of  his  push  into  the  Fields  he  was  able 
to  crown  a  new  ambition  by  the  purchase  of  a  block  of  four 
claims  in  one  of  the  best-paying  sections  of  the  Kimberley  mine. 
His  savings  were  then  about  ^£3000,  and  he  put  nearly  every 
pound  he  was  worth  into  his  purchase.  His  seemingly  risky 
investment  was  quickly  justified  by  the  yield  of  his  claims. 
With  the  help  of  this  great  investment  he  came  swiftly  into 
prominence.  Entering  into  partnership  with  his  brother,  he 

established  the  firm  of  Bar- 
nato  Brothers  in  1880,  as  a 
London  and  Kimberley  firm 
of  diamond  dealers  and  brok- 
ers in  mining  properties,  and 
crowned  a  further  ambition 
by  combining  his  own  claims 
with  adjoining  holdings  in  his 
first  mining  stock  organiza- 
tion, "  The  Barnato  Diamond 
Mining  Company." 

He  was  one  of  many 
quick-sighted  and  resourceful 
men  who  perceived  that  the 
day  for  any  profitable  work- 
ing of  individual  claims  had 
passed,  while  the  body  of 
miners  was  still  struggling 
along  blindly  in  the  great  cav- 
ing chasms.  He  brought  about  a  highly  desirable  amalgamation 
of  the  claims  which  he  controlled  with  those  of  the  Standard 
Company,  one  of  the  strongest  organizations  in  the  Kimberley 
Mines,  and  later  these  claims  were  amalgamated  with  the  hold- 
ings of  the  Kimberley  Central  Company,  in  which  he  became  a 
large  shareholder.  It  was  at  this  stage  in  his  fortunes  that  he 
came  into  keen  rivalry  with  the  only  competitor  that  could  make 
headway  successfully  against  him,  Cecil  John  Rhodes. 

There  was  a  singular  likeness  in  some  respects  in  the  careers, 


C.  J.  Rhodes,  when  a  Student  at  Oxford. 


THE    MOVING    MEN 


273 


conceptions,  and  calculations  of  these  extraordinary  men,  although 
they  were  so  markedly  dissimilar  in  personal  appearance  and 
temperament.  Cecil  John  Rhodes  was  the  younger  son  of  a 
Hertfordshire  clergyman,  and  came  as  a  sickly  boy  to  South 
Africa  in  1871,  in  the  first  flush  of  the  diamond  fever,  to  join 
his  brother  Herbert  on  a  small  plantation  in  Natal.  The  raw, 
dusty  Diamond  Fields  were  apparently  one  of  the  spots  least 
likely  to  attract  a  youth  whose  health  had  broken  down,  and 
whose  tastes  were  bent  from  early  childhood  toward  a  scholar's 


Cape  Town. 

life  in  the  cloisters  of  a  university  appealing  to  every  high  imagi- 
nation in  its  memorials  of  every  age  since  the  dawn  of  letters 
in  Britain.  So  indeed  it  seemed  when  young  Rhodes  turned 
his  back  on  the  fresh  glitter  of  the  new  mines  and  entered  his 
name  on  the  rolls  of  Oriel  College  in  1872.  But  the  same  year 
saw  his  return,  because  of  a  lung  fever  that  threatened  his  life, 
and  made  the  shift  from  misty  England  to  the  mild  clear  air  of 
the  terraces  of  Natal  an  imperative  prescription.  Shortly  after 
his  return  Herbert  Rhodes  slid  into  the  current  setting  to  the 
Diamond  Fields,  but  Cecil  stayed  on  the  plantation  until  the 
following  year,  1873,  when  his  brother's  report  and  his  dawning 


274      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

success  as  a  claim-owner  drew  him,  somewhat  reluctantly,  over 
the  long  sun-baked  stretch  to  Kimberley. 

So  unknown  to  each  other  and  blind  to  their  future  clash 
and  union,  Cecil  John  Rhodes,  the  clergyman's  son,  and  Barney 
Barnato,  the  London  shopboy,  started  abreast  in  the  race  for 
fortune  on  the  same  track.  An  ordinary  observer  of  the  two 
young  men  would  probably  have  picked  Barnato  as  the  winner 
on  such  a  track  as  the  new  Diamond  Fields.  Any  one  could  see 
at  a  glance  that  the  young  Hebrew  was  unsinkable,  and  pecul- 
iarly fitted  to  make  a  good  living  in  the  stirring  towns  by  his 
business  training,  quick  wit,  and  racial  genius  for  trade,  while 
the  English  college  student  had  no  apparent  fitting  for  success 
either  as  a  digger  or  a  business  man.  Kipling  has  told  of  the 
straining  of  the  new  ship,  as  a  living  thing,  in  the  trial  to  find 
herself,  and  this  fine  conception  has  literal  truth  in  the  applica- 
tion to  young  manhood.  So  Cecil  John  Rhodes  was  forced  to 
find  himself,  as  he  did,  when  he  put  away  his  books  to  plunge 
into  the  whirling  life  of  the  Great  White  Camps. 

Tall,  gaunt,  shy,  the  stripling  sat  at  the  diamond  sorting 
table,  overseeing  the  Kafirs  who  scraped  over  the  pebbles  from 
his  brother's  claim,  on  a  little  "  floor  "  near  the  edge  of  the  big 
Kimberley  pit.  Roughly  dressed,  coated  with  dust,  disdainful 
of  any  foppish  touch,  peculiarly  self-contained,  full  of  novel  ideas 
and  aspirations  rising,  turning,  and  shaping  themselves  in  his 
mind,  he  was  not  one  to  mingle,  like  Barnato,  in  every  stir 
of  the  froth  in  the  camps,  or  ready  to  jump,  like  the  London 
shopboy,  into  any  gush  of  speculation,  from  a  bet  at  cards  to  an 
auction  sale.  Externally  the  two  young  men  could  scarcely  be 
more  unlike  than  the  little,  chunky,  bullet-headed,  near-sighted, 
mercurial  Hebrew,  taking  a  hand  in  current  sport  or  traffic,  and 
the  tall,  thoughtful,  young  overseer,  sitting  moodily  on  a  bucket, 
deaf  to  the  chatter  and  rattle  about  him,  and  fixing  his  blue  eyes 
intently  on  his  work,  or  on  some  fabric  of  his  brain. 

Yet  both  were  alike  in  their  expanding  ambition  and  power 
to  grapple  and  mould  in  their  distinctive  ways  the  opportunities 
about  them.  Both  had  keen  foresight,  and  extraordinary  com- 


THE   MOVING    MEN 


275 


Silver  Trees.     (These  trees  grow  only  on  the  slopes  of  Table  Mountain.) 

prehension  of  great  financial  undertakings.  Both  had,  too,  the 
essential  poise  and  accuracy  of  judgment  that  shuns  pitfalls 
and  punctures  illusions.  With  variant  motives  they  sought  the 
same  end  of  great  riches  :  one  for  the  sheer  satisfaction  of  money 
making,  of  unfolding  great  schemes  of  production  and  flotation, 
of  proving  to  the  world  that  he  was  a  master  of  finance ;  the 
other  chiefly  as  a  means  to  reach  ends  of  Imperial  scope,  to 
throw  the  searchlights  of  civilization  into  every  cranny  of  the 
Dark  Continent,  to  lift  the  prodigious  dead  weight  of  unnumbered 


276      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

bygone  ages  of  barbarism,  to  make  the  waste  lands  fruitful  and 
open  the  arteries  of  traffic,  to  create  a  Greater  Britain  than  the 
most  daring  fancy  before  him  had  conceived,  and  stretch  the 
hand  of  his  Queen  over  a  realm  transcending  the  farthest  sweep 
of  the  Macedonian  or  the  Roman. 

Both  realized  very  keenly  the  practical  necessity  of  effecting 
combinations  of  the  claims  covering  the  diamond  mines  in  order 
to  provide  a  uniform  and  efficient  development  and  to  secure 
a  scarcely  less  essential  control  of  the  diamond  output.  The 
patent  collapse  of  the  open  pit  mining  forced  the  undertaking 
of  underground  works,  and  compelled  the  further  consolidation 

of  holdings ;  but 
for  too  many  years 
there  was  no  com- 
mon realization  of 
the  urgent  need  of 
the  systematic  de- 
velopment of  the 
mines  as  a  united 
property,  and  not 
as  a  complex  col- 
lection of  discord- 
A  Cape  Can.  ant  parts.  The 

working  of  the  parts  was  at  best  cramped  and  conflicting.  The 
prosecution  of  any  well-designed  plan  was  heavily  handicapped 
by  the  lack  of  cooperation  in  adjoining  properties. 

This  was  sharply  etched  in  by  Barnato  after  Rhodes  had 
successfully  pressed  the  amalgamation  of  the  variant  interests. 
"  I  think  I  can  prove  to  you,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  in  addressing 
a  shareholders'  meeting  in  1889,  "that  in  order  to  work  the 
underground  system,  you  must  have  the  mines  intact.  You  all 
remember  the  trouble  and  friction  that  took  place  when  the  De 
Beers  mine  was  being  worked  by  the  De  Beers  Company,  the 
Victoria,  the  Oriental,  the  Elma,  the  Gem,  and  others.  Why 
was  the  underground  system  not  a  success  in  this  case?  Because 
one  company  was  working  against  another ;  that  is  to  say,  if  one 


THE    MOVING   MEN 


277 


company  was  on  the  five  hundred  feet  level,  the  opposing  com- 
panies could  go  and  eat  into  each  other's  boundary  walls  and 
pillars  to  such  a  dangerous  extent  that  the  entire  mine  was  in 
a  condition  which  threatened  collapse  at  any  moment." 

This  was  so  patently  true,  and  more  particularly  in  Kimber- 
ley  mine,  that  it  may  seem  surprising  that  the  disastrous  conflict 
was  so  long  maintained.  But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  average  shareholder  was  not  as  quick  to  see  and  prompt  to 
move  for  a  remedy  as  Rhodes,  and  comparatively  few  had  his 
intimate  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  all 
the  mines  in  the  Fields.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the  investors 
in  these  mines  were  men  who  had  never  been  on  the  Fields  at  all, 
or  whose  acquaintance  was  limited  to  a  sightseer's  visit.  Many, 
too,  had  bought  shares  simply  as  a  gamble  in  the  stock  market, 
and  only  welcomed  such  information  or  reports  as  were  calculated 
to  boom  their  speculations. 

It  was  obviously  labor  lost  to  attempt  to  interest  such  men 
in  any  far-reaching  plan  for  the  union  and  systematic  develop- 
ment of  all  the  mining  claims  in  the  craters,  and  most  of  them 
would  have  sneered  it  away  as  a  mere  chimera  if  it  had  been  laid 
before  them.  This  was  indeed  a  project  which  might  well  have 
appalled  an  ordinary  man,  even  if  he  had  the  clear  sight  and 
comprehension  of  the  position  essential  to  a  true  judgment. 
Anybody  might  dream  of  such  a  gigantic  combination,  and  some 
day-dreamer  might  babble  about  it  to  his  gossips,  but  what  man, 
or  association  of  men,  would  have  the  foresight  and  patience,  the 
perseverance  and  tact,  the  integrity  and  fulness  of  talent,  to  push 
forward  toward  it  for  years,  to  thrust  aside  or  crush  blocks  in 
the  way,  to  harmonize  discordant  and  jealous  interests,  to  open 
the  eyes  of  narrow-sighted  selfishness,  to  win  the  confidence  of 
the  distrustful,  to  design  a  scheme  of  union  that  would  make  all 
holders  of  good  working  claims  common  shareholders  on  a  basis 
of  equity  and  assured  profit  to  all,  and  finally  to  provide  the 
enormous  capital  necessary  for  the  consummation  of  the  scheme, 
and  the  development  of  the  great  diamond  mines  in  a  really 
great  way  ? 


278       THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Here  was  a  task  of  such  tremendous  magnitude  and  difficulty 
that  men  of  good  ordinary  judgment  might  well  question  its 
feasibility.  What  man  in  or  out  of  the  Fields  would  dare  attempt 
it  ?  Who  could  do  it,  if  he  dared  to  venture  ?  There  is  a  mighty 
fillip  to  the  conceit  of  man,  that  in  such  great  exigencies  as  these 
—  in  times  when  some  prodigious  undertaking  is  imperatively 
needed  —  the  man  or  men  who  can  carry  it  on  to  completion 
are  almost  always  forthcoming.  "  Nothing  is  impossible  nowa- 
days," said  the  "  Bonanza  King,"  Flood,  when  doubts  were 
raised  of  the  practicability  of  piping  water  from  the  Sierra 
Nevada  Mountains  to  the  Comstock  Silver  Mines  on  the 
Virginia  range ;  "  the  only  question  is,  will  it  pay  ? "  That 
seems,  indeed,  the  only  touchstone  which  men  of  such  pith  and 
temper  are  disposed  to  apply  to  any  object.  It  was  again  made 
evident  on  South  African  Diamond  Fields  how  far  the  possible 
stretches  when  men  with  Flood's  touchstone  are  the  adven- 
turers. The  moving  men,  who  could  comprehend  the  need  for 
union  and  effect  it,  came  irresistibly  to  the  front  in  the  Fields. 

The  undertaking  to  which  they  set  their  hands  should  be 
clearly  set  forth.  In  spite  of  the  ruin  of  the  open  mine  work- 
ings in  the  competing  development  scramble,  and  in  spite  of  the 
continuing  conflict  and  recurrent  disasters  in  the  underground 
mining  so  cogently  enforcing  the  call  for  union,  there  were 
still,  at  the  end  of  1885,  no  less  than  ninety-eight  separate  hold- 
ings in  the  four  mines.  In  Kimberley  mine  there  were  eleven 
companies  and  eight  private  holdings;  in  De  Beers  there  were 
seven  companies  and  three  private  holdings  ;  in  Dutoitspan,  six- 
teen companies  and  twenty-one  private  holdings  ;  in  Bultfontein, 
eight  companies  and  twenty-four  private  holdings.  Thus  the  four 
mines  were  operated  by  a  total  of  forty-two  companies  and  fifty- 
six  private  firms  or  persons,  all  clashing  within  a  surface  area 
of  70  acres.  The  original  location  claims,  aggregating  3600, 
had  been  united  to  this  extent,  merely,  at  the  close  of  fourteen 
years  of  mining  on  the  helter-skelter  plan. 

It  is  hardly  just  to  credit  Rhodes  and  Barney  Barnato  with 
an  equal  perception  of  the  imperative  call  for  the  union  of  all 


THE    MOVING   MEN 


279 


Mr.  C.  D.  Rudd. 


the  discordant  interests  in  the  diamond  mines.     Each  reached 

the   conclusion   that  it  was  no  longer   possible   to   continue  to 

work  the  mines  divided  into  small 

holdings  which  were  controlled  by 

men  antagonistic  to   one   another. 

Rhodes's  interests  were  mostly  in 

De     Beers     mine,    and    Barnato's 

largely  in  the  Kimberley  mine.    In 

the  same  year,  1880,  in  which  Bar- 

nato   floated   successfully   his   first 

diamond-mining  corporation,  "The 

Barnato   Mining  Company,"   con- 
sisting of  a  few  claims  in  a   rich 

section    of  the    Kimberley    mine, 

Rhodes   and  others  founded  the  De  Beers   Mining  Company, 

on  the  contiguous  diamond-bearing  crater. 

It  is  of  interest  in  this  connection  to  trace  the  origin  of  De 

Beers  Mining  Company  through 
the  early  years  of  De  Beers  mine. 
In  1 873  Rhodes  united  his  claims 
in  De  Beers  mine  with  those  of 
C.  D.  Rudd,  and  they  slowly  in- 
creased their  holdings.  Robert 
Graham  joined  them  in  1874, 
and  later  Runchman,  Hoskyns 
&  Puzey  took  part  with  them  in 
the  purchase  of  Baxter's  holdings. 
This  combination,  in  addition  to 
mining  their  own  ground,  took 
pumping  contracts  to  drain  the 
mine.  Besides  the  above  combi- 
nation there  were  other  competi- 
tors for  the  purchase  of  claims, 
such  as  Dunsmure  &  Alderson, 

Stow  &  English,  and  these  three  firms  gradually  acquired  all  the 

best  ground  in  De  Beers  mine  except  the  Elma  Company,  owned 


Mr.  Robert  English. 


28o      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

by  Thomas  Shiels  and  others,  the  Victoria  Company  in  which 
J.  Ferguson  was  then  the  leading  spirit,  and  the  United  Dia- 
mond Mining  Company. 

The  De  Beers  Mining  Company  was  formed  on  the  ist  of 
April,  1880,  with  a  capital  of  ,£200,000,  by  the  union  of  the 
three  firms  first  mentioned.  It  progressed  with  extraordinary 
success,  extending  its  range  of  ownership,  absorbing  step  by  step 
its  floundering  neighbors,  and  finally  standing  out  preeminent 
in  March,  1885,  with  a  capital  of  ^841,550,  upon  which  divi- 
dends of  ~i\  per  cent  had  been  paid  during  the  last  fiscal  year, 
in  spite  of  the  heavy  charges  of  development  work  and  the  un- 
avoidable hampering  of  its  mining  operations.  Mr.  Rudd  states 
that  at  one  time  Rhodes  and  he  had  the  offer  of  the  entire  De 
Beers  mine  for  ^6,000,  and  they  walked  about  a  whole  day 
talking  it  over,  but  finally  decided  they  could  not  finance  it. 
The  licenses  at  that  time  were  so  costly  that  it  was  thought  wise 
not  to  risk  the  purchase.  Money  was  not  very  plentiful  among 
these  men  in  those  days,  as  is  shown  by  one  of  the  first  checks 
of  the  De  Beers  Mining  Company,  which  was  drawn  by  Rhodes 
in  his  own  favor  for  ^5,  "as  an  advance  against  his  salary  as 
secretary." 

It  is  possible  that  Barnato  may  have  tried  to  bring  about  a 
further  consolidation  of  some  of  the  various  interests  in  Kim- 
berley  mine,  but  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  he  contemplated 
any  broad  scheme. 

For  nearly  six  years  Rhodes  concentrated  his  efforts  in  the 
Diamond  Fields  toward  obtaining  complete  control  of  De  Beers 
mine  by  himself  and  his  chosen  friends,  and  he  brought  about 
this  consolidation  of  all  the  holdings  in  May,  1887.  His 
master  mind  was  steadfastly  bent  on  the  attainment  of  the  con- 
trol of  the  development  and  output  of  the  four  great  diamond- 
producing  mines  of  South  Africa,  and  his  work  of  first  uniting 
all  the  interests  in  De  Beers  mine  was  but  the  beginning  of  his 
great  dream.  The  range  for  amalgamation  of  the  four  mines 
was  so  great  that  no  single  man,  however  ambitious,  could  hope 
to  cover  it  by  any  single-handed  effort.  The  consolidation  of 


THE   MOVING    MEN  281 

all  the  companies  in  De  Beers  mine  was  on  the  lines  conceived 
by  Rhodes,  and  carried  out  by  the  support  given  him  by  the 
leading  men  who  were  interested  in  the  various  companies. 

Up  to  this  time  there  was  no  rivalry  between  Rhodes  and 
Barnato,  for  no  measures  had  been  taken  by  Rhodes  to  obtain 
a  footing  in  Kimberley  mine.  The  first  steps  taken  in  this 
direction  were  to  try  to  purchase  the  claims  in  the  west  end  of 
the  Kimberley  mine  held  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  bank, 
and  known  as  W.  A.  Hall's  claims.  This  was  in  the  beginning 
of  May,  1887.  Unfortunately,  however,  for  Rhodes's  scheme, 
these  claims  had  already  been  offered  to  a  syndicate  in  London, 
headed  by  Sir  Donald  Currie,  and  were  purchased  by  that  syndi- 
cate for  £i  10,000.  The  plan  which  Rhodes  had  in  his  mind 
was  to  purchase  these  claims,  and  also  to  purchase  the  claims 
of  the  "  Compagnie  Fran9aise  des  Mines  de  Diamant  du  Cap 
de  Bon  Esperance,"  known  as  the  "  French  Company."  The 
"French  Company"  held  a  block  of  claims  which  ran  nearly 
across  the  mine  from  north  to  south,  and  divided  the  holdings 
of  the  Central  Company.  It  also  held  a  block  of  claims  adjoin- 
ing those  of  W.  A.  Hall,  but  these  were  not  connected  with  the 
main  body  of  their  claims,  being  separated  by  the  intervening 
claims  of  the  Central  Company.  These  two  companies  were 
so  antagonistic  to  one  another  that  neither  would  allow  the 
divided  blocks  of  ground  to  be  worked  by  means  of  tunnels 
driven  through  the  diamond-bearing  ground  of  the  opposing 
company.  The  Central  Company  worked  its  claims  by  two 
separate  shafts  sunk  in  the  blue  ground  at  the  bottom  of  the 
open  mine,  and  the  ground  hoisted  in  the  shafts  was  sent  to  the 
surface  by  means  of  aerial  trams,  while  the  "  French  Company  " 
was  compelled  to  drive  tunnels  into  the  walls  of  the  mine  adjoin- 
ing the  claims  and  connect  them  by  a  cross  tunnel,  as  they  were 
working  through  one  shaft  only. 

To  create  a  powerful  company  in  Kimberley  mine  was  sub- 
stantially all  that  the  leading  men  in  that  mine  had  been  work- 
ing for,  but  this  was  far  from  satisfying  Rhodes.  Barnato  viewed 
the  situation  as  a  speculator  and  investor.  Money  making 


282      THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


«         M 

_ :  v  ^L_i£il  ^y  f 


THE   MOVING    MEN  283 

through  mining  on  a  sound  basis  was  avowedly  the  limit  of  his 
scheme,  apart  from  a  natural  pride  in  figuring  as  the  foremost 
operator  in  these  marvellous  Diamond  Fields,  and  a  rising  star 
of  the  first  magnitude  on  the  London  Stock  Exchange.  But  the 
assurance  of  money  making  was,  at  most,  a  minor  consideration 
with  Rhodes.  He,  too,  valued  money  highly,  but  not  for  the 
bare  delight  in  piling  it  up  or  for  the  luxuries  which  it  would 
purchase.  Great  wealth  was  to  him  the  essential  means  for  the 
furtherance  of  great  plans.  He  wanted  millions  in  hand,  or  the 
assured  control  of  millions,  to  push  his  design  for  the  lighting-up 
of  the  Dark  Continent  by  the  torchbearers  of  civilization,  for  the 
carrying  of  the  flag  of  Greater  Britain  from  the  Cape  to  Cairo. 

A  man  of  kindred  spirit,  but  of  far  more  quixotic  temper, 
the  great  soldier,  General  Gordon,  once  told  him  of  the  offer  of 
a  roomful  of  gold  by  the  Chinese  Government  for  his  extraordi- 
nary services  in  subduing  the  Tai-Ping  rebellion. 

"  What  did  you  do  ?  "  said  Rhodes. 

"  Refused  it,  of  course,"  said  the  disdainful  Gordon.  "  What 
would  you  have  done  ?  " 

"  Done,"  said  Rhodes,  "  why,  I  would  have  taken  it,  and  as 
many  more  roomfuls  as  the  Chinese  would  give  me.  It  is  no 
use  to  us  to  have  big  ideas,  if  we  have  not  got  the  money  to 
carry  them  out." 

The  range  of  his  plans  and  how  he  pursued  them  will  be 
presented  in  detail  in  the  chapter  dealing  with  the  far-reaching 
undertakings  of  the  great  Chartered  Company  which  he  con- 
ceived and  brought  into  existence.  It  is  sufficient  to  note  at 
present  that  he  pushed  the  development  of  his  grand  political 
aims  apace  with  the  means  at  his  command,  from  the  very  begin- 
ning of  his  appearance  as  a  prominent  factor  in  the  development 
of  the  diamond  mines.  He  entered  the  Cape  Parliament  as 
a  member  for  the  district  of  Barkly  West,  almost  coincidently 
with  the  formation  of  the  De  Beers  Mining  Company.  From 
the  day  of  his  entrance  into  the  political  field,  he  worked  un- 
waveringly for  the  extension  of  British  dominion  into  the  heart 
of  Africa. 


284      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


THE    MOVING   MEN 


285 


The  northern  boundary  of  the  province  of  Griqualand  West, 
formed  by  the  inclusion  of  the  new  Diamond  Fields,  had  not 
been  determined  by  careful  surveying,  and  the  location  of  the 
line  was  disputed  by  the  Batlapin  chief,  Manlcoroane,  who 
claimed  control  of  the  territory  which  is  now  Lower  Bechuana- 
land.  Rhodes  prevailed  on  the  Cape  Government  to  form 
and  send  out  a  Delimitation  Commission  for  the  settlement  of 


Avenue  of  Oaks,  Cape  Town.     House  of  Parliament  at  the  Left. 

the  dispute,  and  his  appointment  as  one  of  the  commissioners 
was  a  natural  recognition  of  his  interest  and  competence. 
Shortly  after  he  reached  the  frontier  he  was  able  to  satisfy 
himself  that  the  complaint  of  the  chief  was  well  founded.  Some 
seventy  farms  belonging  to  Mankoroane's  tribe  had  been  in- 
cluded in  error  within  the  bounds  of  the  British  province,  and 
justice  demanded  this  acknowledgment.  But  instead  of  aban- 
doning the  ground,  Rhodes  saw  that  restitution  might  be 
made  in  a  way  to  accord  with  his  aim  for  the  extension  of 


286      THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF  SOUTH   AFRICA 

British  sovereignty,  and  his  cogent  appeal  persuaded  the 
Batlapin  chief  to  place  all  his  territorial  holdings,  covering  half 
Bechuanaland,  under  British  protection  by  cession  to  the  Cape 
Colony.  To  his  mortification,  however,  the  Colony  declined 
the  offered  cession  with  its  contingent  obligations.  Then 
Rhodes  appealed  to  the  Home  Government,  and  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  the  establishment  of  a  Protectorate  over 
Lower  Bechuanaland  in  1884. 

But  it  was  only  by  the  most  pressing  insistence  that  this 
advance  was  maintained.  The  Cape  Colony  was  so  stubborn  in 
its  refusal  to  bear  the  expense  of  any  new  acquisition,  and  the 
Imperial  Government  was  so  doubtful  and  sluggish  in  grasping 
its  opportunities,  that  Rhodes  was  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  only  assurance  of  the  accomplishment  of  his  aims  must 
come  from  his  own  private  enterprise,  —  through  the  forming  of 
some  great  corporation,  whose  capital  and  interests  might  be 
engaged  in  his  undertaking  for  the  control  and  development  of 
the  resources  of  the  vast  barbaric  interior  of  Africa.  It  was 
for  this  cause  chiefly  that  he  was  so  unflaggingly  insistent  upon 
the  farthest  possible  stretch  of  amalgamation  in  the  control  of 
the  diamond  mines,  though  it  must  justly  be  observed  that  the 
thorough  amalgamation  of  conflicting  interests  in  the  Fields  was 
very  highly  desirable,  if  not  absolutely  essential,  for  its  systematic 
development  and  the  marketing  of  its  output.  A  possible  com- 
bination, with  which  Barnato  would  have  rested  content,  would 
have  wholly  failed  to  accomplish  the  end  which  Rhodes  had  so 
deeply  at  heart. 

In  the  year  1887,  shortly  after  taking  charge  of  the  De 
Beers  Mining  Company,  Mr.  Rhodes  requested  me  to  write  to 
two  of  my  friends  in  London,  Mr.  Hamilton  Smith  and  Mr. 
E.  G.  De  Crano,  who  founded  the  Exploration  Company  of 
London,  and  who  were  intimately  connected  with  the  Messrs. 
Rothschild,  and  request  them  to  ask  Lord  Rothschild  if  he 
would  supply  the  funds  for  the  purchase  of  the  French  Com- 
pany in  the  Kimberley  mine,  provided  Rhodes  could  come 
to  some  agreement  with  that  Company  for  the  purchase  of  the 


THE    MOVING    MEN 


287 


property.  Before  any  answer  could  be  received,  even  by  cable, 
Rhodes,  who  had  gone  from  Kimberley  to  Cape  Town  to 
attend  the  Session  of  Parliament,  became  very  impatient  about 
securing  this  property,  and  wired  me  to  join  him,  and  we  sailed 
from  Cape  Town  on  the  6th  of  July.  In  my  letter  to  Messrs. 
Smith  and  De  Crano  I  put  before  them  the  plan  which  Rhodes 
proposed  to  carry  out,  and  the  object  he  had  in  purchasing  the 
French  Company's  property,  viz.,  to  prevent  the  amalgamation 
of  all  the  interests  in  that  mine,  which  might  be  set  up  as  an 
independent  company  in  conflict 
with  the  interests  of  De  Beers. 

On  our  arrival  in  London  we 
met  Lord  Rothschild,  and  Rhodes 
discussed  the  plan  with  him.  In 
the  meantime,  while  we  were  on 
the  water,  Rhodes's  scheme  had 
been  presented  to  the  late  Mr. 
Tite  and  to  Mr.  Carl  Meyer  of 
Messrs.  N.  M.  Rothschild  & 
Sons,  who  were  very  favorably  im- 
pressed with  the  business,  and  had 
discussed  it  with  Lord  Rothschild. 

Mr.  De  Crano  had  made  several      '. 

trips    to    Paris,    and    had    already  Mr.  carl  Meyer. 

paved  the  way  for  a  conference  between  Rhodes  and  the  directors 

of  the  "  French  Company." 

At  the  close  of  the  interview,  Lord  Rothschild  said,  "  Well, 
Mr.  Rhodes,  you  go  to  Paris  and  see  what  you  can  do  in  refer- 
ence to  the  purchase  of  the  French  Company's  property,  and  in 
the  meantime  I  will  see  if  I  can  raise  the  _£  1,000,000  which  you 
desire." 

On  leaving  the  room  Lord  Rothschild  stopped  Mr.  De 
Crano  for  a  moment,  and  said  to  him,  "You  may  tell  Mr. 
Rhodes  that  if  he  can  buy  the  French  Company,  I  think  I  can 
raise  the  million  pounds  sterling." 

The    same    evening   Rhodes,   Mr.   De  Crano,   Mr.   Harry 


288      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Mosenthal,  and  myself  left  for  Paris,  and  after  several  meetings 
with  the  French  Company's  directors,  we  settled  upon  the  terms 
for  the  purchase  of  their  property,  which  they  valued  at  that  time 
at  about  _£  1,400,000,  including  all  their  assets.  On  returning 
to  London  Mr.  Rhodes  arranged  with  Lord  Rothschild  that  he 
should  furnish  him  with  ^750,000,  which  would  be  sufficient  for 
the  time  being  to  complete  the  arrangements  that  he  had  made 
with  the  French  Company.  In  my  letter  of  the  i8th  of  June, 
it  was  mentioned  to  Messrs.  Smith  and  De  Crano  that  Rhodes 
would  be  willing  to  issue  De  Beers  shares  in  payment  of  the 
loan  at  ^i  less  than  the  ruling  market  price  of  the  shares  at  the 
date  the  money  was  paid,  and  would  pay  Messrs.  Rothschild  a 
handsome  commission  for  transacting  the  business. 

The  final  arrangement  made  for  the  payment  of  this  money 
was  the  issue  of  50,000  De  Beers  Mining  Company's  shares  at 
^15  per  share,  and  a  syndicate  was  formed  to  take  up  these 
shares  with  the  able  assistance  of  Mr.  Ludwig  Lippert,  of  Ham- 
burg. It  was  agreed  between  Lord  Rothschild  and  Rhodes 
that  the  profit  on  the  rise  of  the  shares  between  ^16  and  .£20 
during  the  next  three  months  should  be  divided  between  the 
purchasing  syndicate  and  the  De  Beers  Company.  The  shares 
rapidly  rose,  and,  before  the  expiration  of  the  time,  had  already 
reached  ^22  per  share.  The  De  Beers  Company  received 
^100,000  as  their  portion  of  the  profit  on  the  rise  of  the  shares. 
Shortly  after  the  completion  of  this  business  Rhodes  returned 
to  the  colony  and  awaited  the  result  of  the  French  Company's 
shareholders'  meeting  to  confirm  the  sale  which  had  been  made 
to  him  by  the  directors  of  that  company.  Barnato  and  others 
interested  in  the  Kimberley  Central  Company,  upon  hearing  of 
the  transaction  that  had  taken  place,  determined  to  use  every 
effort  to  prevent  the  consummation  of  this  sale,  and  threatened 
to  offer  the  shareholders  of  the  French  Company  at  their  gen- 
eral meeting  ^300,000  more  than  the  amount  for  which  the 
directors  had  pledged  the  company  to  Rhodes. 

As  a  general  of  a  great  army  is  obliged  to  have  the  assistance 
and  cooperation  of  competent  lieutenants  to  carry  out  the  plan 


THE    MOVING    MEN 


289 


of  campaign  which  his  superior  mind  has  conceived,  so  Rhodes 
looked  about  for  the  strongest  and  ablest  men  to  join  him  in 
repelling  the  vigorous  attack  which  was  being  made  against  him. 
The  first  check  which  he  gave  his  opponents  seemed  at  first  sight 
to  be  a  complete  surrender  to  them.  Instead  of  allowing  Bar- 
nato  and  his  colleagues  to  bid  against  him  for  the  purchase  of 
the  French  Company,  Rhodes  arranged  with  them  that  he  should 
complete  the  purchase  upon  the  lines  agreed  upon  with  the  direc- 
tors of  that  company,  and  promised  to  unite  the  interests  so  pur- 
chased with  the  Kimberley  Central  Company,  in  which  Mr.  Francis 
Baring-Gould,  who  was  the  chair- 
man, Barnato,  and  others  held  the 
controlling  power,  taking  shares  in 
the  Central  Company  in  payment. 

In  this,  as  well  as  in  subsequent 
transactions,  Rhodes  was  most  ably 
assisted  by  Mr.  Alfred  Beit,  the 
Kimberley  representative  of  Jules 
Forges  &  Co.,  who  started  business 
in  Paris  as  diamond  merchants  in 
1869.  The  men  who  from  time  to 
time  have  been  connected  with  Mr. 
Forges  and  the  successors  to  him, 
Messrs.  Wernher,  Beit  &  Co.,  took 
the  keenest  interest  in  Rhodes's  scheme,  and  assisted  him  more 
than  all  others  in  bringing  about  the  consolidation  of  the  dia- 
mond interests.  As  early  as  1871  Mr.  Julius  Wernher  went 
out  to  Kimberley  in  the  capacity  of  diamond  buyer  for  Jules 
Forges  &  Co.,  and  became  partner  in  the  firm  in  1878.  The 
firm  grew  in  importance,  and  became  owners  in  some  of  the 
largest  companies  in  the  four  mines.  They  were  the  founders 
of  the  Griqualand  West  Diamond  Mining  Company  in  Kim- 
berley mine,  which  was  afterward  re-formed  into  the  "  French 
Company."  Mr.  Alfred  Beit  came  to  the  fields  in  1875  as  a 
diamond  buyer  for  the  firm  of  Lippert  &  Co.,  of  Hamburg,  and 
after  a  few  years  established  himself  in  business  as  a  diamond 


Mr.  Alfred  Beit,  while  a  Resident  of 
Kimberley. 


290       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

buyer  on  his  own  account.  In  the  year  1882  he  joined  the  firm 
of  Jules  Forges  &  Co.,  as  their  representative  in  South  Africa, 
and  became  a  partner  in  the  firm  in  1886. 

In  1889  Mr.  Forges  retired  from  the  firm,  which  was  re- 
formed as  Wernher,  Beit  &  Co.,  Mr.  Max  Michaelis  joining 
the  firm.  Mr.  Michaelis  came  to  the  Fields  in  1878,  and  went 
into  partnership  with  Mr.  S.  Neumann.  He  organized  the  Cape 
Diamond  Mining  Company  in  Kimberley  mine.  In  1880  he 
entered  into  an  arrangement  with  Jules  Forges  &  Co.  to  carry  on 
his  diamond  business  on  joint  account  with  them,  which  arrange- 
ment remained  in  force  until  Mr.  Forges  retired,  when  he  became 
a  partner  in  the  new  firm.  Mr.  Michaelis  assisted  in  bringing 
about  the  fusion  of  several  of  the  large  claim-holders  in  the 
Kimberley  mine,  such  as  Baring-Gould  &  Atkins,  and  Baring- 
Gould,  Price  &  Tracy,  with  the  Kimberley  Central  Company. 

The  great  initiative  and  business  capabilities  of  Mr.  Beit 
were  heartily  recognized  by  Rhodes,  and  he  was  very  largely 
instrumental  in  building  up  the  diamond-mining  industries,  and 
bringing  the  dreams  of  Rhodes  into  practical  shape  and  on 
business  lines. 

At  a  special  general  meeting  of  the  shareholders  of  the  De 
Beers  Mining  Company  Limited,  held  at  Kimberley  on  the  jist 


of  March,   1888,  for  the  purpose  of  considering 
firming    an   agreement    entered   into   between   the 


and    con- 
respective 


The  Diamond  Market,  Kimberley,  1875.     (First  Office  of  Mr.  Alfred  Beit  at  the  Left.) 


THE    MOVING   MEN  291 

Boards  for  the  amalgamation  of  the  De  Beers  Mining  Company 
with  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited,  Mr.  Rhodes  gave 
his  reasons  for  the  necessity  of  acquiring  either  the  control  of  the 
Kimberley  mine  or  of  entering  into  some  arrangement  with  the 
directors  of  the  Central  Company,  who  controlled  the  mine,  by 
which  the  output  of  both  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines  could 
be  regulated.  He  saw  that  by  skilful  and  systematic  mining 
on  the  underground  system,  the  output  of  the  mines  could  be 
increased  far  beyond  the  world's  requirements.  It  was  clear, 
too,  if  these  two  mines  were  run  in  opposition  to  one  another, 
it  would  result  in  the  flooding  of  the  market  with  diamonds,  and 
a  consequent  depreciation  of  their  value,  with  a  fall  in  market 
prices  almost  ruinous  to  both  companies.  He  saw  that  the  out- 
put of  diamond-bearing  ground  could  be  made  almost  unlimited, 
and  in  referring  to  this  he  said:  "We  had  to  face  either  an  arrange- 
ment with  the  Kimberley  Central  Company,  or  obtain  control 
of  the  Kimberley  mine.  We  approached  the  Kimberley  mine 
management  in  every  possible  way  we  could  conceive.  I  valued 
the  De  Beers  mine  higher  than  they  did,  but  I  was  willing  to 
give  way  in  order  to  obtain  control.  I  was  met  simply  with 
smiles  and  obdurate  statements.  I  was  met  with  the  arguments 
of  the  gentleman  at  '  the  corner,'  who  said  the  Kimberley  mine 
was  worth  three  times  as  much  as  De  Beers.  We  had  to  choose 
between  the  ruin  of  the  diamond  industry  or  the  control  of  the 
Kimberley  mine.  We  saw  this,  that  you  could  never  deal  with 
obstinate  people  until  you  got  the  whip  hand  of  them,  and  that 
the  only  thing  we  had  to  do  to  secure  the  success  of  our  industry 
was  to  get  the  control  of  the  Kimberley  mine." 

As  soon  as  Rhodes  had  bought  the  French  Company  and 
amalgamated  his  interests  with  the  Kimberley  Central  Company, 
he  found  that  the  management  of  that  Company  was  headstrong 
in  its  determination  to  run  the  Kimberley  mine  in  rivalry  with 
De  Beers.  This  was  diametrically  opposed  to  his  conviction 
that  monopoly  was  the  essence  of  success  in  diamond  mining ; 
for,  as  he  said,  "  Our  engineers  had  long  ago  shown  us  that,  by 
underground  working,  Kimberley  and  De  Beers  mines  could 


292      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


THE    MOVING    MEN  293 

produce  far  more  diamonds  than  the  world  would  take."  By 
the  purchase  of  the  French  Company,  De  Beers  Company  held 
one-fifth  of  the  capital  of  the  Central  Company,  and  after  many 
attempts  to  bring  about  a  friendly  union  of  the  two  mines, 
Rhodes  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  only  feasible  plan 
was  to  buy  a  sufficient  number  of  shares  in  the  Central  Company 
to  obtain  control.  To  accomplish  this  would  take  at  least 
^2,000,000  sterling.  Fortunately  Mr.  Alfred  Beit,  whose  com- 
mand of  capital  for  such  great  undertakings  was  unequalled  in 
South  Africa,  stood  fast  by  him  in  determined  cooperation.  In 
answer  to  Rhodes's  natural  question,  "  Where  is  the  money  to 
come  from  ?  "  Mr.  Beit  said  pithily,  "  We  will  get  the  money 
if  we  can  only  get  the  shares." 

Then  ensued  a  most  keen  contest.  Mr.  Beit  and  Rhodes  be- 
gan buying  all  Central  shares  that  could  be  secured  with  apparently 
limitless  means.  Both  were  leaders  in  the  contest,  but  Mr.  Beit 
furnished  most  of  the  money.  Meanwhile  Barney  Barnato  was 
bidding  against  them  with  unfailing  pluck  for  the  control  of  the 
Company.  The  price  of  shares  mounted  by  jumps,  but  never 
too  high  for  Barnato,  who  was  persistent  in  his  claim  that  the 
Kimberley  mine  was  worth  two  of  De  Beers.  Rhodes's  version 
of  the  story  of  this  struggle  is  that  in  his  purchase  of  shares  he 
had  the  support  of  the  loyal  directors  and  shareholders  of  his 
Company,  while  his  principal  opponent  was  handicapped  by  the 
fact  that  he  was  forced  to  buy  out  his  own  largest  shareholders. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  Barnato  felt  this  apparent  lack  of  loy- 
alty keenly,  but  he  was  too  strenuous  a  fighter  to  concede  defeat. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  came  to  terms  with  his  antagonists  only 
when  the  price  of  shares  had  been  bulled  to  a  figure  that  seemed 
out  of  reason  even  to  his  sanguine  estimate,  while  the  price  of 
diamonds  had  been  forced  down  unprofitably  by  unobstructed 
competition.  After  many  and  long  conferences,  Rhodes  made 
Barnato  one  last  offer,  which  he  accepted.  For  his  interest  in 
the  Kimberley  Central  Company  he  was  paid  with  De  Beers 
shares  at  the  current  rates  of  shares  on  the  day  of  the  sale.  By 
this  purchase  De  Beers'  holding  of  Central  shares  was  brought 


294      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

up  to  eleven  thousand  out  of  seventeen  thousand  shares.  Under 
the  trust  deed  of  the  Central  no  amalgamation  could  be  made 
unless  half  the  capital  was  present  at  a  meeting  called  for  the 
purpose,  and  no  new  resolution  could  be  carried  without  a  two- 
thirds  majority  of  those  present.  The  bargain  with  Barnato 
gave  De  Beers  the  control. 

So  having  finally  obtained  the  control  of  the  Kimberley  mine 
by  purchase  for  .£5,338,650,  Rhodes  turned  his  attention  to 
what  he  called  the  poorer  mines,  Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein. 
At  a  meeting  of  De  Beers  shareholders  he  said  he  was  reminded 
of  a  story  he  had  read  about  a  certain  mine,  of  which  it  was  said 
"  it  was  too  rich  to  leave  and  too  poor  to  pay,"  and  he  would 
thus  describe  the  mines  alluded  to.  "  Nothing,"  he  said,  "  was 
so  extraordinary  as  the  way  in  which  the  people  would  hold  scrip 
from  year  to  year  that  never  pays,  but  it  was  always  said,  '  Oh, 
next  year  it  will  pay,'  and  so  it  went  on  from  year  to  year."  He 
wished  to  state  "  that  so  far  as  the  amalgamation  of  the  diamond 
mines  was  concerned,  it  would  not  help  the  poorer  mines,  but 
rather  the  other  way.  It  was  generally  noticed  in  mining 
matters  that  following  upon  one  success  a  number  of  unsuccess- 
ful ventures  were  floated.  And  this  was  why  they  had  secured 
these  interests  in  Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein  mines."  He  did 
not  look  upon  the  purchase  of  properties  in  these  mines  as  a 
good  investment,  with  diamonds  at  the  price  they  were  bringing 
at  the  time  of  the  purchase ;  but  as  these  two  mines  were  large 
factors  in  the  production  of  diamonds,  their  yield,  even  if  mined 
at  a  loss,  would  affect  in  a  very  large  degree  the  price  which 
could  be  obtained  for  the  product  of  the  richer  mines. 
Although  Dutoitspan  mine  could  not  be  worked  at  a  profit  at 
the  market  price  of  diamonds,  and  the  mine  had  already  begun 
to  be  troubled  with  reef  falls  burying  the  blue  ground  below, 
still  he  considered  it  necessary  to  get  control  of  the  principal 
companies  in  this  mine.  In  Bultfontein  mine,  where  the  reef 
troubles  had  already  begun,  there  was  still  a  large  portion  of  the 
mine  in  process  of  working,  and  he  described  it  as  being  "  on 
the  margin  of  cultivation."  If  the  reef  remained  standing,  and 


.--.: 


THE    MOVING    MEN 


295 


oiuwn  MNva  3dOH  0009 


296      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

the  price  of  diamonds  was  fair,  the  mine  could  be  worked  at  a 
small  profit. 

Rhodes  continued  the  purchase  of  the  properties  in  both 
these  mines  until  the  whole  of  the  two  mines  came  into  the 
possession  of  the  corporation  organized  as  De  Beers  Consoli- 
dated Mines.  He  showed  the  shareholders  in  the  various 
companies  that  the  fate  of  the  poorer  mines  lay  in  his  hands, 
because  he  could  produce  twice  the  amount  of  diamonds  the 
world  required  from  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines  alone. 
Even  at  the  low  rate  of  fourteen  shillings  a  carat,  he  made  it 
clear  that  the  richer  mines  could  pay  to  the  shareholders  divi- 
dends which  would  satisfy  them.  "  The  poorer  mines,  '  on  the 
margin  of  cultivation,'  would  have  to  accept  our  offers,  or  fight 
us  on  two  grounds,  larger  output  and  lower  rates." 

In  his  speech  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  De  Beers  Min- 
ing Company,  held  at  Kimberley  on  the  i2th  day  of  May,  1888, 
Rhodes  bore  tribute  cordially  to  the  essential  cooperation  of 
Mr.  Beit  in  his  great  undertaking. 

In  moving  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  chairman,  his  former 
antagonist,  Barnato,  briefly  referred  to  the  struggle  which  was 
closed  by  the  purchase  of  his  shares  in  the  Kimberley  mine. 
He  said  "  no  person  knew  better  than  he  did  the  labor  Mr. 
Rhodes  had  to  convert  him  into  the  De  Beers  Mining  Company." 
He  could  say  that  day  after  day  and  night  after  night  Mr. 
Rhodes  was  laboring  to  get  him  to  take  De  Beers  for  Centrals. 
He  gave  way  .when  he  saw  diamonds  down  to  eighteen  shillings 
a  carat,  and  on  those  conditions  he  joined  Mr.  Rhodes.  It  is 
only  just  to  Barnato  to  note  in  closing  that  he  was  as  loyal  in 
his  later  cooperation  as  he  had  been  persistent  in  his  antagonism. 
It  is  sad  to  recall  how  his  brilliant  and  versatile  mind  gave  way 
under  the  enormous  strain  brought  upon  him  by  the  various 
obligations  incurred  through  his  numerous  investments  and 
flotations  in  the  gold  fields.  His  tragic  death  was  a  distressful 
close  to  his  phenomenal  career.  On  his  way  to  England  from 
the  Cape,  in  June,  1897,  he  suddenly  sprang  overboard  and  was 
drowned. 


CHAPTER   X 


THE    ESSENTIAL    COMBINATION 

T  has  been  told  why  and  how  the  conflicting 
interests  on  the  Diamond  Field  were  fused  in 
one  dominant  organization.  The  signal  ser- 
vices of  this  amalgamation  are  now  too  obvious 
for  dispute.  By  the  formation  of  De  Beers 
Consolidated  Mines  Limited,  it  became  practi- 
cable to  design  and  conduct  mining  operations  systematically 
and  economically  and  to  regulate  the  output  to  the  market  de- 
mand. It  was  soon  apparent,  too,  that  the  organization  of  this 
extraordinary  joint  stock  company  was  the  creation  of  a  power 
of  yet  unmeasured  service  for  the  development  of  the  resources 
of  South  Africa  and  the  push  of  civilization  through  the  Dark 
Continent. 

The  only  approaches  to  the  far-reaching  conception  of  this 
organization  must  be  traced  back  to  the  old  Dutch  and  English 
East  India  companies,  or  the  visionary  project  of  John  Law, 
exploding  in  air  as  the  Mississippi  Bubble.  At  the  outset,  on 
the  1 2th  of  March,  1888,  a  seemingly  unpretentious  joint  stock 
company  was  formed  and  established  at  Kimberley  with  a  capital 
of  _£  1 00,000  sterling,  divided  into  twenty  thousand  shares  of 
^5  each.  Authority  was  granted,  however,  in  the  articles  of  the 
association,  to  the  shareholders  of  the  company  to  increase  this 
small  capital  in  general  meeting,  from  time  to  time,  for  the 
acquisition  of  new  property,  by  creating  new  shares  to  any 
extent,  or,  in  the  exact  words  of  article  39,  "such  amount  as 
may  be  deemed  expedient."  No  provision  for  expansion  and 
acquisition  could  be  more  liberal,  and  the  particular  specifica- 
tions of  the  articles  of  the  association  show  that  "  new  property," 

297 


298      THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

in  possible  range  at  least,  was  not  confinable  to  the  Diamond 
Fields  or  Cape  Colony,  or  even,  perhaps,  the  scope  of  the  whole 
Dark  Continent. 

It  was  remarked  somewhat  caustically  at  the  time,  but  with 
undeniable  keenness,  that  it  was  much  easier  to  tell  what  this 
amazing  Company  could  do  than  to  determine  what  it  should 
not  do  under  its  articles  of  association  and  trust  deed  incorpo- 
ration under  the  limited  liability  laws  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  It  might  shift  its  head  office  from  Kimberley  to  any 
other  place  on  earth.  It  might  "  acquire  by  purchase,  amalga- 
mation, grant,  concession,  lease,  license,  barter,  or  otherwise  any 
houses,  lands,  farms,  tracts  of  country,  quarries,  mines,  mining 
or  other  claims,  rights  and  privileges,  water  rights,  waterworks 
or  other  works,  privileges,  rights  and  hereditaments,  diamonds 
and  other  precious  stones,  gold  and  other  minerals,  ores,  coals, 
earth,  and  any  other  valuable  product  or  substance,  machinery, 
plant,  utensils,  trade  marks,  patents  for  invention,  licenses  to 
use  any  patented  invention,  and  other  movable  and  immovable 
property  of  any  description  in  Africa  or  elsewhere."  Under 
this  liberal  license,  the  only  apparent  obstacle  to  its  ownership 
of  the  face  of  the  earth  is  the  declination  of  other  holders  to  sell 
or  give  it  away. 

It  was  further  specifically  authorized  to  carry  on  a  mining  and 
general  trading  business  in  any  part  of  the  globe,  and  to  con- 
struct, maintain,  and  operate  any  tramways,  railways,  roads,  tun- 
nels, waterworks,  canals,  gas  works,  electric  works,  reservoirs, 
water-courses,  furnaces,  stamping  works,  smelting  works,  fac- 
tories, and  in  general,  "any  other  works  and  conveniences  which 
the  Company  may  think  conducive  to  any  of  its  objects."  It 
might  also  become  interested  in,  promote,  and  undertake  the 
formation  and  establishment  of  such  institutions  or  companies 
(trading,  manufacturing,  banking,  or  other)  as  may  be  considered 
to  be  conducive  to  the  profit  and  interest  of  the  Company,  and 
to  carry  on  any  business,  in  short,  "calculated  directly  or  indi- 
rectly to  render  any  of  the  Company's  properties  or  rights  for 
the  time  being  profitable."  There  was  also  provision  for  the 


THE   ESSENTIAL   COMBINATION  299 

possible  acquirement  of  any  tract  or  tracts  of  country  of  any  size 
in  Africa  or  elsewhere,  together  with  any  rights  that  might  be 
granted  by  the  rulers  or  owners  thereof,  and  the  expenditure  of 
any  sums  deemed  requisite  and  advisable  in  the  development 
and  maintenance  of  order  and  good  government  in  such  acquisi- 
tions. 

In  view  of  the  enjoyment  by  the  shareholders  of  such  privi- 
leges and  liberties,  it  was  only  natural  that  the  directors  of  the 
Company  should  not  be  grudgingly  confined.  This  was,  indeed, 
the  case,  and  two  specifications  of  powers,  in  particular,  have 
proved  to  be  highly  serviceable  in  practice,  for  there  has  been 
no  abuse  of  discretion.  The  directors  were  authorized  "  to  pur- 
chase, hire,  or  otherwise  acquire  for  the  Company  any  share  in 
any  kind  of  joint  stock  company,  property  rights,  or  privileges 
which  the  Company  is  authorized  to  acquire,  at  such  price  and 
generally  on  such  terms  and  conditions  as  they  may  think  fit; 
also  to  sell,  lease,  abandon,  or  otherwise  deal  with  any  shares, 
property  rights,  or  privileges  to  which  the  Company  may  be 
entitled,  on  such  terms  and  conditions  as  they  may  see  fit,  and  to 
amalgamate  with  any  other  company  or  companies  having  objects 
altogether  or  in  part  similar  to  the  objects  of  this  Company." 
They  were  further  empowered  "  to  found,  promote,  float,  and 
acquire  interest  or  shares  in  any  companies,  undertakings,  or  in- 
stitutions, as  they  may  deem  advisable  in  the  interests  of  the 
Company  ;  also  to  acquire  interests  in,  promote,  aid,  or  subsidize 
any  useful  industry  or  undertaking  in  any  country  where  the 
Company  may  be  carrying  on  business." 

At  the  outset,  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited  was 
preeminently  what  is  termed  a  close  corporation.  Four  men 
held  all  but  twenty-five  shares  of  its  stock.  These,  in  the  order 
of  their  subscription  to  the  articles  of  association,  were  Alfred 
Beit,  holding  4439  shares ;  Barnett  I.  Barnato,  holding  6658  ; 
Cecil  J.  Rhodes,  holding  4439  ;  and  Frederick  S.  P.  Stow,  hold- 
ing the  same  number  as  Beit  and  Rhodes.  These  four,  by  the 
articles,  were  practically  authorized  as  shareholders  to  create  "  five 
life  governors  or  permanent  directors  of  the  Company,  four 


300 


THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


of  whom  shall  be  Cecil  John  Rhodes,  Barnett  Isaac  Barnato, 
Frederick  Samuel  Philipson  Stow,  and  Alfred  Beit."  If  "so 
minded,"  these  four  had  the  power  by  unanimous  resolution  of 
themselves  or  their  survivors  to  appoint  the  fifth  authorized 
"  life  governor,"  and  to  fill  any  vacancy  occurring  in  their 
number  by  reason  of  death  or  otherwise.  These  four  were 
further  constituted  the  first  directors  of  the  Company,  and  had 


A  Group  of  Directors,  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Lt'd.     (Mr.  Frederick  Samuel  Philipson 
Stow  in  the  centre,  holding  a  book.) 

power  to  appoint  other  directors,  if  they  so  desired,  to  act  in 
conjunction  with  them  until  the  first  ordinary  general  meeting 
of  the  Company,  when  the  shareholders  were  called  upon  to  de- 
termine how  many  directors  there  should  be  besides  the  life 
governors,  and  to  elect  "such  number  as  they  determine  to  be 
necessary." 

From  the  point  of  view  of  ordinary  investors  in  ordinary 
stock  companies  the  unlimited  sweep  of  this  unique  organization 
and  the  powers  confided  to  its  controlling  directors  may  be 


THE   ESSENTIAL    COMBINATION  301 

summed  up  in  the  familiar  outcry  of  Dominie  Sampson.  They 
are  indeed  "  prodigious,"  but  the  phenomenal  success  of  this 
combination  is  a  stubborn  fact  that  must  be  faced  in  any  conten- 
tion that  its  scope  and  method  of  conduct  were  unwarrantable 
and  unadvisable.  Its  base  of  operation  was  not  Lombard  Street, 
but  the  heart  of  South  Africa,  in  a  field  so  unique,  in  a  situ- 
ation so  perplexing,  in  unavoidable  touch  with  such  far-rang- 
ing and  conflicting  interests,  that  ordinary  limitations,  hampering 
freedom  of  expansion  and  action,  would  have  been  crippling  and 
possibly  disastrous  handicaps.  The  powers  of  the  directors  are 
great,  but  who  can  justly  deny  that  they  have  been  greatly  used 
for  the  reconciliation  of  jarring  interests,  the  comprehensive  and 
rational  development  of  the  diamond  mines,  the  safety  and  com- 
fort of  the  miners,  the  profit  of  the  shareholders,  the  promotion 
of  allied  industries,  and  the  general  welfare  of  South  Africa  ? 
The  possible  range  of  expansion  of  the  interests  of  the  corpora- 
tion is  a  bugbear  to  some  good  people,  who  would  prefer  the 
harmlessness  of  the  deserted  village  to  the  risk  that  civilization 
might  "  git  forrid  sometimes  upon  a  powder  cart."  But  what  is 
there  to  show,  to-day,  of  the  actual  stretch  and  exercise  of  the 
corporate  powers  beyond  the  judicious  limits  of  profitable  in- 
vestment, sagacious  development  of  tributary  resources,  and  dis- 
charge of  patriotic  obligations  ? 

The  expansion  of  the  original  corporate  foundation  was 
rapidly  pushed.  The  plan  in  detail  was  presented  by  the  chair- 
man of  the  corporation,  Mr.  Rhodes,  on  March  31,  1888,  at 
the  special  general  meeting  of  the  shareholders  of  the  De  Beers 
Mining  Company.  The  programme  thus  presented  was  unani- 
mously endorsed  by  the  shareholders  of  the  Company,  accepting 
it  without  alteration  as  the  best  feasible  proposition  for  the  con- 
solidation of  the  diamond-mining  interests. 

At  this  general  meeting  of  the  shareholders  the  De  Beers 
Mining  Company  was  formally  merged  in  the  new  corporation. 
The  shareholders  of  the  old  Company  received  two  fully  paid 
^£5  shares  in  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited  for  every 
fully  paid  ^10  share  in  the  old  Company.  Having  effected 


302      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

this  acquisition,  transferring  the  whole  of  De  Beers  mine,  and  the 
interests  of  the  late  De  Beers  Mining  Company  in  all  outside 
mining  properties,  the  Consolidated  Mines  pushed  forward  stead- 
ily their  undertaking  of  a  comprehensive  consolidation.  The 
first  and  most  important  step  was  the  securing  of  the  whole  of 
Kimberley  mine,  the  greatest  producing  factor  next  to  De  Beers. 
The  method  by  which  the  property  of  the  Kimberley  Central 
Diamond  Mining  Company  was  finally  turned  over  to  the  Con- 
solidated Mines  has  been  described  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

In  the  acquisition  of  Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein  mines  a 
different  plan  was  adopted.  These  mines,  at  the  time,  were  not 
profitable  producing  properties,  and  it  was  practically  certain  that 
they  could  not  be  operated  to  advantage  in  view  of  the  output 
from  the  greater  and  richer  mines.  For  several  years  each  of 
these  mines  had  produced  diamonds  to  the  value  of  over  half  a 
million  carats  annually  ;  but  this  production  was  rapidly  declin- 
ing, owing  to  the  unresisted  falls  of  reef.  Among  the  assets 
taken  over  from  the  old  De  Beers  Company  were  a  number  of 
shares  in  the  Griqualand  West  Company  of  Dutoitspan  and 
in  the  Bultfontein  Consolidated  Company.  By  the  influence 
secured  through  this  acquisition,  it  was  not  difficult  to  effect 
permanent  working  agreements  with  De  Beers  Consolidated 
Mines,  by  which  the  new  corporation  attained  complete  posses- 
sion of  both  mining  properties  in  consideration  of  the  payment 
of  a  fixed  annual  dividend.  During  the  second  year  after  the 
incorporation,  the  Consolidated  Mines  purchased  the  property 
of  the  Anglo- African  Mining  Company,  the  Compagnie  Generate 
(including  its  interest  in  the  Conivieras  mines  in  the  Brazils), 
the  Sultan  Diamond  Mining  Company,  and  the  United  Diamond 
Mining  Company,  representing  nearly  all  the  properties  of  ma- 
terial consequence  and  extent  in  Dutoitspan  mine  except  the 
Gordon  Company's  holdings.  During  the  same  period  the 
Consolidated  Mines  bought  in  the  Bultfontein  Mining  Com- 
pany, the  Spes  Bona  Diamond  Mining  Company,  and  the  South 
African  Diamond  Mining  Company,  comprising  a  considerable 
part  of  the  properties  in  the  Bultfontein  mine. 


THE   ESSENTIAL   COMBINATION 


303 


304      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

The  actual  cost  of  the  properties  thus  acquired  by  the  Con- 
solidated Mines  was  approximately  ^14,500,000.  There  would 
have  been  no  difficulty  in  expanding  the  capital  of  the  corpora- 
tion by  the  issuing  of  shares  to  an  amount  sufficient  to  cover 
this  immense  acquisition,  but  a  more  conservative  course  was 
adopted.  It  was  decided  not  to  increase  the  capital  of  the  cor- 
poration beyond  ^£3, 950,000.  The  purchases  in  excess  of  this 
issue  were  provided  for  by  the  issue  of  debentures.  The  adop- 
tion of  this  plan  necessitated  a  provision  for  covering  very  heavy 
fixed  charges  in  the  early  years  of  the  operations  of  the  Consoli- 
dated Mines  ;  but  this  obligation  was  undertaken  with  confidence 
in  view  of  the  assurance  of  the  control  of  the  diamond  market, 
brought  about  through  the  consolidation,  and  the  actual  return 
in  the  rapidly  increasing  output  of  the  mines  with  systematic 
and  scientific  development. 

During  the  financial  year  following  the  completion  of  con- 
solidation, De  Beers  produced  2,195,112  carats  of  diamonds. 
This  product,  including  the  proceeds  of  diamonds  from  debris 
washing,  realized  in  the  market  ^£3, 287,728.  In  that  year  the 
total  weight  of  diamonds  produced  by  all  the  mines  in  the 
Kimberley  division  was  2,415,655  carats.  Thus  approximately 
ninety  per  cent  of  the  total  production  was  then  furnished  by  the 
Consolidated  Mines.  The  net  profit  of  the  operations  for  the 
year  exceeded  _£  i  ,000,000  sterling,  and  two  half-yearly  dividends 
of  ten  per  cent  each  were  paid  to  the  shareholders.  The  actual 
cost  of  winning  over  2,000,000  carats  of  diamonds,  including 
all  expenses  at  the  mines  and  office  charges,  was  a  little  over  a 
million  sterling,  or  roughly  IQJ.  per  carat.  The  difference 
between  the  estimated  net  profit  and  the  costs  of  operation 
was  expended  in  the  payment  of  interest  on  debentures  and 
obligations  and  in  provision  for  their  redemption,  and  in  the  set- 
ting aside  of  an  exceedingly  liberal  provision  of  over  ^500,000 
as  an  offset  for  depreciation  of  plant,  etc. 

The  directors  of  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  could 
point  with  high  satisfaction  to  this  profitable  showing  in  contrast 
with  the  records  of  disastrous  competition  and  conflicting  mine 


THE   ESSENTIAL   COMBINATION  305 

operations.  No  exact  statistics  are  obtainable  of  the  production 
in  the  early  years,  when  no  official  returns  from  the  mines  were 
made.  The  late  Barney  Barnato,  who  made  a  special  study  of 
the  probable  rate  of  production,  estimated  the  product  from 
1873  to  1880  as  ranging  annually  from  a  million  to  a  million 
and  a  half  carats.  After  1880  there  was  a  considerable  increase, 
and  in  1883,  when  official  returns  were  first  rendered,  the  quan- 
tity of  diamonds  produced  was  2,319,234  carats.  The  average 
value  of  this  product  was  reckoned  at  los.  ^.\d.  giving  a  total 
of  ^£2,3  59,466.  In  1884  the  product  was  2,264,786  carats, 
valued  at  ^2,562,623,  showing  an  average  of  23^.  i\d.  per 
carat.  This  was  the  top  notch  in  market  value,  for  in  the 
following  year,  1885,  the  diamonds  produced  amounted  to 
2,287,261  carats,  with  an  average  value  of  only  igs.  $^d.  per 
carat.  In  1886  the  production  reached  the  high  total  of 
3,047,639!-  carats,  but  the  demand  increased  in  proportion,  so 
that  the  average  selling  price  was  fully  is.  higher  per  carat  than 
during  the  previous  year.  In  1887  and  1888,  through  the 
increased  facilities  for  production  in  De  Beers  and  Kimberley 
mines,  the  total  output  rose  to  3,646,889  carats,  and  3,565,780!- 
carats  successively.  The  average  price  during  these  two  years 
ranged  from  iis.  6d.  per  carat  to  12s.  \\d.  but  the  market  was 
flooded,  and  prices  were  falling  perilously  close  to  the  cost  of 
production  even  in  the  richer  mines.  There  was  no  assurance 
of  any  far-sighted  regulation  of  the  output  and  market  prices, 
and,  lacking  this,  diamond  mining  properties  were  commonly 
reckoned  as  little  better  than  gambling  ventures.  It  has  been 
clearly  shown  how  this  disastrous  condition  was  at  once  changed 
to  stable  assurance  and  prosperity  by  the  control  of  the  new 
organization. 

To  the  shareholders  in  the  mines,  after  this  reorganization 
was  effected,  the  returns  were  unprecedented.  This  profit  was 
largely  due  to  the  complete  control  of  production,  systematic 
operation,  and  regulation  of  the  output ;  but  the  comparative 
showing  was  also  greatly  enhanced  by  the  shrewdness  of  the 
financiering  in  the  organization,  and  the  withdrawn!  of  inflation 


306       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

from  the  stocks  of  the  various  mining  properties  included  in  the 
new  incorporation  and  its  leased  holdings.  The  capital  of  De 
Beers  Mines  before  consolidation  was  ^£2,009,000.  The  capital 
of  the  Central  Company  was  .£1,779,650.  De  Beers  stock  at 
the  time  of  consolidation  was  selling  at  £40  a  share,  represent- 
ing a  capital  0^8,036,000.  The  stock  of  the  Central  Com- 
pany, controlling  the  Kimberley  mine, 
was  selling  at  £50  for  each  £10  share, 
making  a  total  valuation  of  £8,898,250 
for  the  mine.  At  this  market  estimate 
the  valuation  of  the  two  great  mines  was 
£17,934,250.  The  capital  of  the  Du- 
toitspan  was  approximately  £3,500,000, 
and  of  Bultfontein,  £2,000,000  nomi- 
nally, making  a  gross  valuation  for  the 
four  mines  of  £23,434,250.  By  consoli- 
dation the  capital  stock  was  compressed 
to  £^,950,000,  and  almost  absolute  con- 
trol of  the  mining  in  all  four  of  these  great  properties  was  se- 
cured at  an  annual  charge  of  about  ^320,000  for  interest  on 
debentures  and  for  leases  of  two  companies,  one  in  Dutoitspan 
mine  and  one  in  Bultfontein  mine.  The  business  of  the  Com- 
pany grew  so  rapidly  that  it  was  necessary  to  establish  transfer 
as  well  as  general  business  offices  in  London. 


Mr.  E.  R.  Tymms,  Secretary  of 
the  London  Board,  De  Beers 
Consolidated  Mines  Lt'd. 


CHAPTER   XI 


SYSTEMATIC     MINING 

UST  acknowledgment  has  been  made  in  a  former 
chapter  of  the  essential  service  rendered  to  the 
diamond  mine  owners  by  the  device  of  Mr. 
Edward  Jones  for  underground  work  beneath 
the  fallen  reef  covering  the  bottom  of  the  open 
pits.  'This  was,  however,  confessedly  only  a 
temporary  makeshift,  enabling  the  claim-holders  to  defray  the 
heavy  costs  of  sinking  shafts  through  the  hard  rock  outside  the 
craters,  and  pursuing  some  systematic  plan  for  the  extraction  of 
the  diamond-bearing  breccia  by  underground  workings.  Deep- 
shaft  sinking  was  undertaken  with  renewed  heart  by  several 
companies  owning  claims  in  Kimberley  and  De  Beers  mines, 
but  for  some  years  there  was  an  obvious  lack  of  essential 
cooperation  and  unity  of  method.  Eight  shafts  were  sunk,  or 
were  under  way,  in  1885,  within  and  without  the  craters,  for 
opening  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines,  and  through  these 
shafts  the  blue  ground  was  extracted  by  four  different  methods 
of  stoping,  none  of  which  was  satisfactory.  The  system  insti- 
tuted by  the  Central  Company,  the  largest  operator  in  Kim- 
berley mine,  illustrates  sufficiently  the  inherent  defects  in  all. 
Here  galleries  fifteen  feet  wide  were  driven  to  the  right  and 
left  of  a  main  tunnel,  with  pillars  fifteen  feet  thick  between 
them.  Passages  or  winzes  for  broken  ground  were  sunk 
at  short  intervals  to  a  tunnel  below.  The  ground  was  stoped  to 
the  height  of  fifteen  feet  above  the  main  tunnel,  and  then  below 
it  until  the  stope  reached  the  next  level.  The  passes  became 
filled  frequently  with  large  pieces  of  ground,  and  had  to  be 
cleared.  Under  this  system  the  mine  was  assuming  the  shape 

3°7 


308       THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

of  a  section  of  a  gigantic  honeycomb  cut  in  two  longitudinally, 
the  spaces  for  the  honey  representing  the  worked-out  part  of  the 
mine,  and  the  comb,  the  support  for  the  superincumbent  mass 
of  debris.  After  a  short  period  of  working,  the  pillars  began  to 
show  signs  of  crushing,  and  the  mine  was  considered  too  danger- 
ous to  allow  the  men  to  remain  in  it.  They  were  withdrawn 
just  in  time  to  prevent  a  disaster,  for  the  whole  underground 


The  Last  of  Open  Mining,  Kimberley  Mine. 

works  collapsed  shortly  after  the  last  man  had  left  the  mine. 
Fortunately  no  one  was  killed.  The  mine  had  to  be  reopened 
from  top  to  bottom,  for  every  underground  excavation  was  filled 
up  at  the  close  of  the  year  1888. 

The  errors  in  engineering  were  further  accentuated,  during 
the  early  stages  of  underground  mining,  by  the  jealous  bickering 
of  rival  owners,  which  was  constantly  impeding  the  progress  of 
the  workings,  and  it  was  seemingly  impracticable  to  agree  upon 
any  plan  securing  concert  of  operation  and  expert  opening  of  the 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING 


3°9 


ROCK    SHAFT 


PLAN  OF  DE  BEERS  MINE 

7OO  FEET  LEVEL 
SYSTEM  OF  WORKING  1887 

THE  SQUARES  REPRESENT  CLAIMS 
81  FT*  BY  81  FT. 


ROCK  SHAFT 

n 


PLAN  OF  DE  BEERS  MINE. 

800  FT.  LEVEL 

SYSTEM  OF  WORKING.  1888 


310      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

mines.  At  the  end  of  the  year  1885,  although  the  need  of 
amalgamation  of  claims  was  obvious  and  imperative,  there  were 
still,  as  has  been  noted,  ninety-eight  separate  holdings  in  the 
four  mines.  Prior  to  the  consolidation  of  the  holdings  in  De 
Beers  and  Kimberley  mines,  the  underground  workings  were 
prosecuted  with  the  general  design  of  withstanding  pressure  and 
sliding  of  the  reef  by  leaving  sufficient  solid  blue  ground,  in  the 
form  of  "  floors  "  or  "  roofs,"  between  the  series  of  levels,  sup- 
ported by  buttresses  and  pillars  of  blue  ground.  Costly  experi- 
ence by  frequent  collapses  of  the  roofs  and  crushing  of  the  pillars 

SECTION  THROUGH    DE  BEERS  MINE    LOOKING  NORTH 


/Spill 

'/'•  V/MELAPHYRE  '  f 

,"//,;(','/,•''  /'•  .7  V"/1  *•'•'•/'  * 


'•fizci  VC  £^£1  r~  ^»:^  iA*ic^':>; 


.  . 

100      200      300     400      &QQ 


.  .--i. 

'-^     wsfcwio  IV  IWMIA*  *  CO.,  M.Y. 


proved  that  the  levels  were  too  near  one  another,  and  that  gal- 
leries driven  full  size  from  the  offsets  were  difficult  to  maintain 
and  unsafe  for  the  workmen. 

The  heavy  expense  of  sinking  vertical  shafts  and  driving 
tunnels  through  the  hard  rock  surrounding  the  mine  had  led  to 
the  adoption  of  inclined  shafts  in  order  to  reach  the  blue  ground 
more  quickly ;  but,  for  several  reasons,  these  inclines  were  not 
adapted  for  the  prosecution  of  deep  underground  works.  The 
chief  defects  may  be  briefly  summarized.  They  were  difficult 
to  maintain,  as  they  were  sunk  obliquely  through  the  horizontal 
strata  of  the  shale,  which  frequently  gave  way  and  crushed  the 
shaft  timbers.  Secondly,  being  inclined  to  the  horizon  (De 
Beers  56°,  and  Kimberley  Standard  Shaft  32°)  and  situated  not 
far  from  the  margins  of  the  mines,  they  soon  reached  blue  ground. 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING 


H 

o    H 

M 

Ul     Ul 

Q    ^ 


o   z 


BHWE 

mmjj 

Milt 
i 


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312       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 

and  were  continued  down  in  this  breccia,  which  must  sooner  or 
later  be  mined.  Some  of  these  shafts,  as  at  De  Beers,  had  a 
uniform  slope  from  top  to  bottom,  while  others,  as  at  Kimberley 
mine,  changed  to  a  steeper  slope  in  depth  and  in  one  case  to 
a  vertical  shaft.  De  Beers  No.  2  worked  well  to  the  depth  of 
800  feet,  and  the  Standard  shaft,  Kimberley  mine,  was  fairly 
serviceable  to  the  depth  of  845  feet.  The  shafts  were  not  sunk 
with  the  view  of  putting  in  proper  pumps,  and  when  steam  was 
taken  into  the  mines  through  them,  for  pumping  purposes,  the 


conn 


OUR 


PLAN  OF  KIMBERLEY  MINE 

1000  FT.    LEVEL 


natives  had  to  pass  up  and  down  the  same  shafts  by  means  of 
ladders.  As  all  the  inclined  shafts  were  upcasts,  the  heat  was 
insufferable. 

When  I  took  charge  of  De  Beers  mine,  in  the  year  1887,  it 
was  worked  under  what  was  then  known  as  the  Gouldie  system, 
which  had  been  copied  from  the  hematite  mines  of  Cumberland, 
and  first  introduced  in  the  Kimberley  mine  by  Mr.  Joseph 
Gouldie,  then  manager  for  W.  A.  Hall,  and  afterwards  mine 
manager  of  De  Beers  Mining  Company.  At  De  Beers  mine  an 
inclined  shaft  had  been  sunk  to  the  foo-foot  level,  with  inter- 
mediate levels  30  feet  apart  between  the  jSo-foot  and  5OO-foot 
levels. 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING 


SECTION  OF  KWBERLEY  MINE 

LOOKING  NORTH 

10060  0      «po    800     SCO    400     600  «00  FT. 
6CALE 


SECTION  OF  KIMBERLEY  MINE 
LOOKING  EAST 

100  50  0        100     800    800     400    BOO  FT. 
SCALE 


3H      THE    DIAiMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

The  plans  on  other  pages  illustrate  the  manner  in  which 
the  various  levels  were  laid  off.  Tunnels  were  driven  across  the 
crater  at  De  Beers  mine  from  west  to  east,  about  120  feet  apart, 
and  galleries  18  feet  wide  and  18  feet  high  were  opened  every  36 
feet  along  the  main  tunnels,  and  were  worked  up  to  within  12 
feet  of  the  loose  ground  in  the  top  levels.  Pillars  of  solid  blue 
ground  18  feet  thick  were  left  between  the  galleries,  but  later 
on  first  the  roof  and  then  the  pillars  were  taken  out. 

This  method  of  mining  was  fairly  successful  for  a  time ; 
but,  as  already  stated,  as  depth  was  attained,  the  roofs  of  the 
galleries  or  rooms  became  unsafe  before  the  galleries  were 
opened  through  to  those  on  the  next  level  above,  and  they  fre- 
quently gave  way,  thus  making  the  extraction  of  the  blue  ground 
exceedingly  difficult.  This  system  was  both  expensive  and 
dangerous.  No  timber  was  used  except  in  the  main  tunnels  or 
drifts,  the  nature  of  the  blue  ground  being  such  that  the  roofs 
and  sides  of  the  excavations  stood  fairly  well  for  a  short  time, 
provided  they  were  well  ventilated. 

In  other  parts  of  De  Beers  mine  various  companies  were 
working  or  trying  to  work  underground  ;  but  as  no  regular  sys- 
tem of  mining  could  be  carried  on  owing  to  the  irregular  shape 
of  their  holdings,  and  the  more  or  less  temporary  methods 
adopted,  it  was  clearly  impracticable  to  devise  and  carry  into 
effect  any  comprehensive  system  of  operation  for  the  rapid  and 
economical  handling  of  the  diamond-bearing  breccia  in  the 
craters,  until  the  union  of  all  the  claims  through  the  formation 
of  one  controlling  company  permitted  the  installation  of  a  single 
uniform  system  of  mining. 

It  has  already  been  narrated  how  this  was  effected  for 
De  Beers  mine  during  the  year  1887,  by  the  combination  of  all 
the  holdings  in  the  mine  into  one  company,  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited,  in  March,  1888. 
Kimberley  mine  came  formally  into  the  possession  of  this  great 
corporation  on  the  ist  of  June,  1889,  and  controlling  interests 
in  the  other  two  mines,  Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein,  were  also 
secured.  The  assured  control  of  all  the  mines  and  their  opera- 


SYSTEMATIC   MINING  315 

don  by  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited  enabled  its 
directors  to  institute  and  conduct  successfully  a  single  broadly 
comprehensive  plan  for  extracting  the  diamond-bearing  rock 
and  for  disposing  to  the  best  advantage  the  total  product  of 
their  mines. 

This  system  of  mining  was  devised  and  applied  by  me 
shortly  after  my  appointment  as  general  manager  of  the 
De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited,  and  was  based  essen- 
tially on  a  method  suggested  by  the  miners  themselves  and 
without  reference  to  any  other  system.  Instead  of  attempting 
to  withstand,  even  for  a  time,  the  pressure  of  the  superincum- 
bent mass  of  broken  reef,  the  new  system  contemplated  was  a 
caving  in  and  a  filling  of  the  excavations,  after  the  precious  blue 
ground  had  been  extracted. 

In  order  to  make  the  output  of  diamond-bearing  ground  as 
great  as  possible,  the  levels  in  De  Beers  mine  were  at  first 
opened  up  in  the  new  system  according  to  the  following  plan  :  — 

When  the  numerous  small  tunnels  had  been  driven  to  the 
margin  of  the  mine,  i.e.  to  the  point  where  they  reached  the  sides 
of  the  crater,  the  blue  ground  was  stoped  on  both  sides  of  and 
above  each  tunnel  until  a  chamber  was  formed  extending  along 
the  face  of  the  rock  for  100  or  more  feet,  with  an  average  width 
of  about  20  feet,  and  about  20  feet  high.  The  roof  of  the  cham- 
ber or  gallery  was  then  blasted  down  or  allowed  to  break  down 
by  the  pressure  of  the  overlying  mass  of  broken  diamond-bear- 
ing ground  or  debris.  I  mention  diamond-bearing  ground  here, 
for  in  the  early  stages  of  underground  mining  there  was  an 
enormous  amount  of  this  ground  which  had  been  left  behind 
when  open  mining  was  discontinued,  and  had  been  crushed 
either  by  the  moving  sides  of  the  immense  opening  or  by  the 
collapse  of  the  underground  pillars  when  mined  by  the  old  sys- 
tem. It  happened  frequently,  after  breaking  through  to  the 
loose  ground  above,  that  clean  diamond-bearing  ground  would 
run  down  as  fast  as  it  was  removed  for  weeks  or  months  at  a 
time.  The  galleries  would  at  times  become  blocked  with  large 
pieces  of  blue  ground,  which  had  to  be  blasted,  and  then  a 


316      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


further  run  of  blue  ground  would  follow.  When  the  blue 
ground  was  worked  back  toward  the  centre  of  the  crater,  larger 
boulders  or  fragments  of  basalt,  which  had  come  down  through 
the  loose  reef  from  the  surface,  would  be  met  with.  This  sys- 
tem of  working  would  be  continued  until  reef  alone  came 
down,  the  waste  or  reef  removed  being  sent  to  the  surface  by 
itself  and  dumped  on  the  reef  tips  ;  it  formed,  however,  only  an 
inconsiderable  proportion  (one  to  four  per  cent)  of  the  total 
output.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  when  the  roof  caved  in, 
the  gallery  was  nearly  full  of  blue  ground.  By  the  work  which 
followed,  only  a  part  of  this  ground  was  removed  by  the  men 
working  on  that  level,  the  miners  preferring  to  take  it  out  on  the 
next  level  below.  This  process  of  mining  was  repeated  from 
level  to  level  until  finally  there  was  no  more  loose  ground  to  be 
recovered.  The  cost  of  extracting  blue  ground  while  loose 
ground  existed  was  very  low. 


PLAN  OF  DE  BEERS  MINE 

8OO  FT,  LEVEL 


VICTORIA  SHAFT 


Now  all  this  has  changed,  and  the  plan  of  opening  up  new 
levels  has  altered  somewhat,  but  the  system  remains  the  same. 
By  referring  to  the  plan,  given  above,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 


•>  d    *--•-  "*    >   TK'"\    " 

*  *S*~  ::-  \  kF*t  \. 

XJ  ^^^^ 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING  317 

levels  were  opened  around  the  east  end  of  the  mine.  When  the 
underground  works  had  reached  the  depth  of  800  feet  or  more, 
a  new  danger  appeared.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  huge 
open  mines  are  filled  with  debris  from  the  sides,  caused  by  the 
removal  of  the  diamond-bearing  ground  by  open  quarrying  to 
depths  varying  from  200  to  500  feet.  As  the  supports  were 
removed,  the  sides  caved  and  filled  the  open  mine.  This  debris 
was  composed  of  the  surface  red  soil,  decomposed  basalt,  and 
friable  shale,  which  extended  from  the  surface  down  to  a  depth 
of  about  300  feet.  In  addition  to  the  debris  from  the  surround- 
ing rocks  there  were  huge  masses  of  "floating  shale,"  resembling 
indurated  blue  clay  more  than  shale.  Large  heaps  of  yellow 
ground  and  tailings,  which  the  early  diggers  deposited  near  the 
margin  of  the  mines,  and  west-end  yellow  ground  contributed 
to  the  mud-making  material.  The  black  shale  which  surrounds 
the  mines  disintegrates  rapidly  when  it  falls  into  them.  It  con- 
tains a  small  percentage  of  carbonaceous  matter,  and  a  large 
amount  of  iron  pyrites.  When  the  huge  masses  of  shale  fell 
into  the  open  mine,  they  frequently  ignited,  either  by  friction  or, 
more  probably,  by  spontaneous  combustion,  as  they  have  been 
known  to  do  on  the  reef  tips,  and  burned  for  months  and 
even  for  years  at  a  time.  These  masses  of  burned  shale  become 
soft  clay  and  form  a  part  of  the  mixture  which  fills  the  open 
crater.  This  debris  moves  down  as  the  blue  ground  is  mined 
from  underneath  it,  and  becomes  mixed  with  the  water  which 
flows  into  the  open  mine  from  the  surrounding  rock  and  with 
storm  water,  and  forms  mud.  This  overlying  mud  became  a 
menace  and  danger  to  the  men  working  in  the  levels  below. 
Frequent  mud  rushes  occurred  suddenly,  without  the  least  warn- 
ing, and  filled  up  hundreds  of  feet  of  tunnels  in  a  few  minutes, 
the  workmen  being  sometimes  caught  in  the  moving  mass.  It 
became  evident  that  the  method  of  working  shown  on  the  plan 
was  dangerous  in  case  a  mud  rush  took  place,  the  men  being 
sometimes  either  shut  in  or  buried  in  the  mud  coming  from 
the  opposite  side  of  the  mine.  It  was  decided,  therefore,  to  work 
the  mines  from  one  side  only,  and  to  have  the  offsets  to  the 


3i8      THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

rock  connected  one  with  the  other  at  as  few  points  as  would  still 
allow  the  ventilation  of  the  working  faces.     The  plan  illustrated 


PLAN  OF  DE  BEERS  MINE 
1OOOFEET  LEVEL 


in  the  above  figure  shows  the  method  which  was  then  adopted 
and  is  still  in  use.  Kimberley  mine  is  worked  on  about  the 
same  general  system. 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING 


3'9 


The  method  of  laying  out  the  workings  is  also  here  shown. 
Main  tunnels  are  driven  across  the  crater  upon  its  longer  axis, 


Sloping. 


and,  at  right  angles  from  these,  small  tunnels  are  driven  out 
every  30  feet  until  they  reach  the  hard  rock  on  the  south  side  of 
the  mine.  These  tunnels  are  widened,  first  along  the  rock  until 
they  connect  one  with  another,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  roofs, 
or  "  backs,"  are  stoped  up  until  they  are  within  a  few  feet  of  the 


SKETCH  SHOWING  METHOD  OF  STORING 


PLAN   I 


SECTION  I 


SECTION 


STORES  CONNECTED 


320      THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

loose  ground 
above,  thus 
forming  long 
^  galleries,  filled 
more  or  less  with 
blue  ground, 
upon  which  the 

men  stand  when  drilling  holes  in  the  backs.     The  working  levels 
were  at  first  30  feet  apart  vertically,  but,  for  greater  economy, 


Method  of  Sloping,  Vertical  Section. 


SYSTEMATIC   MINING 


321 


the  distance  was  soon  changed  to  40  feet.  The  broken  blue 
ground  lying  in  the  galleries  is  taken  out,  as  a  rule,  before  there 
are  any  signs  of  the  roof  giving  way.  At  times  this  is  impos- 
sible, and  the  roofs  cave  upon  the  broken  ground,  and  the  blue 
ground  is  covered  with  reef.  As  the  roofs  cave  or  are  blasted 
down,  the  blue  ground  is  removed,  and  the  loose  reef  lying  above 
it  comes  down  and  fills  the  gallery.  Tunnels  are  often  driven 


Timbering  Tunnels. 

through  this  loose  reef,  and  the  blue  ground,  which  has  been  cut 
off  and  buried  by  debris,  is  taken  out;  but  it  is  sometimes  left 
for  those  working  the  next  level  below  to  extract. 

After  the  first  "  cut "  near  the  rock  is  worked  out,  another 
cut  is  made,  and  in  this  manner  the  various  levels  are  worked 
back,  the  upper  level  in  advance  of  the  one  below,  forming  ter- 
races as  shown  in  section  on  page  320.  In  De  Beers  mine  there 
are  now  eleven  levels  on  which  work  is  progressing,  commencing 
at  the  depth  of  800  feet  and  extending  down  to  the  1 2oo-foot 


322       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Timbered  Tunnels  at  the  zooo-foot  Level,  Kimberley  Mine. 

level.  At  Kimberley  mine  nine  levels  are  being  worked,  from 
the  I2oo-foot  to  the  1520-1001  level  inclusive.  The  galleries  are 
not  supported  in  any  way  by  timbers,  but  all  tunnels  in  soft  blue 

ground  are  timbered 
with  sets  of  two  props 
and  a  cap  of  round 
timber,  and  are  cov- 
ered with  inch  and  a 
half  lagging. 

Soft  blue  ground 
is  drilled  with  long 
jumper  drills  sharp- 
ened at  both  ends. 
In  hard  blue  ground, 
drills  and  single-hand 

Natives  drilling,  De  Beers  Mine.  hammers       are      USed. 

The  native  workers  become  very  skilful  in  both  methods  of 
drilling,  and  do  quite  as  much  work  as  white  men  would  do 
under  similar  conditions. 


SYSTEMATIC   MINING 


323 


Winding  Shafts 

The  grand  winding  shafts  and  plant  by  which  the  enormous 
output  of  diamond-bearing  ground  is  brought  to  the  surface  are 
illustrated  in  accompanying  figures.  The  present  working  shafts 
are  all  vertical.  De  Beers  rock  shaft  was  the  first  large  vertical 
shaft  of  any  importance,  from  the  present  mining  point  of  view, 
which  was  sunk  in  any  of  the  mines.  It  is  20  feet  by  6  feet  in 
size  inside  timbers,  and  contains  four  compartments,  two  for 
skips  lifting  blue  ground,  one  for  a  cage  for  taking  men  and 
material  up  and  down,  and  one  for  pumps  and  ladderway.  A 


Detail  of  Sets  for  Rock  Shaft. 

balance  weight  for  the  cage  runs  in  the  pump  compartment, 
which  is  also  the  downcast  shaft  through  which  the  whole  mine 
is  ventilated. 

No.  i  is  the  upcast  shaft.  It  has  two  compartments  for 
skips,  two  for  cages,  one  for  pipes,  etc.,  and  a  double  ladderway. 

At  Kimberley  mine  the  rock  shaft  is  a  duplicate  of  De  Beers 
rock  shaft,  except  that  the  pump  compartment  is  larger. 

At  De  Beers,  tunnels  1 1  feet  wide  by  8  feet  high  have  been 
driven  from  the  rock  shaft  at  the  800,  1000,  1200,  1400,  and 
1720-foot  levels,  and  from  No.  i  shaft  at  the  380,  800,  and 
i4OO-foot  levels. 


324      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

At  Kimberley  mine  the  rock  shaft  is  connected  by  similar 
tunnels  with  the  mine  on  the  1000,  1200,  1520,  1840,  and  2160- 
foot  levels.  The  present  depths  (1902)  of  De  Beers  shafts  are 
1720  feet  and  1400  feet  respectively,  and  of  Kimberley  rock 
shaft  2160  feet. 

Trucks  holding  16  cubic  feet  transport  the  blue  ground  in 
the  mines  from  the  loading  places  to  the  main  chutes  or  passes, 
and  from  these  to  the  shaft.  The  trucks  are  hauled  by  an 


A  Shaft  Station. 


endless  chain  which  rests  upon  V-shaped  clips  fastened  to  the 
trucks,  the  motive  power  being  supplied  by  engines  driven  by 
compressed  air,  carried  through  pipes  from  the  surface.  At  the 
shaft  there  is  a  large  station  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  some  30 
feet  wide,  and  extending  back  toward  the  mine  for  a  distance  of 
70  feet  to  the  point  where  the  tunnel  (8  by  1 1  feet)  commences. 
There  is  an  extension  on  one  end  of  the  shaft  for  a  small  cage- 
way  to  bring  up  any  ground  that  may  spill  over  the  skips  while 
being  loaded.  This  prevents  delays  in  the  skip  hoisting.  The 
shaft  is  also  lengthened  for  a  few  feet  at  the  pump  end,  where  a 
set  of  pumps  is  put  in. 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING 


325 


As  one  descends  the  shaft  in  the  cage  in  pitch  darkness  and 
suddenly  comes  to  a  large  opening  brightly  lighted  with  numer- 
ous electric  lamps,  the  scene  is  weird  and  confusing.  A  score  of 
natives,  half  dressed,  each  vying  with  the  other  in  shouting  his 
own  comments  upon  the  visitors  as  they  come  forth  from  the 
cage ;  the  whirl  of  heavy  iron  trucks  as  they  go  to  and  fro ;  the 
banging  of  the  tippers  as  they  turn  over  and  deposit  the  contents 
of  the  enclosed  truck  into  a  chute  below,  —  all  present  a  picture 
unique  in  itself  and  only  to  be  seen  in  passing  through  the  shafts 
at  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines.  Those  who  have  travelled 
through  the  native  centres,  or  have  seen  the  negroes  loitering 
about  the  towns,  and  have  thought  them  lazy,  indolent,  beer- 
drinking  beings,  should  visit  the  diamond  mines,  and  especially 
the  scene  upon  the  "flat  sheet"  as  described  above,  and  they 
will  get  a  new  impression  of  the  working  capacity  of  these 
despised  black  men.  The  natives  working  in  the  diamond 


326       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF  SOUTH    AFRICA 

mines,  if  they  are  old  hands  in  the  service,  are  uniformly  active 
and  industrious  men,  while  natives  fresh  from  the  kraals  are  soon 
taught  their  duties,  which  they  learn  to  perform  with  nearly  as 
much  skill  as  most  European  miners. 


INVERTED  PLAN 

PLAN   OF  SKIP  FOR   SIX   LOADS. 


328      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


No  more  rapid  handling  and  extraction  of  the  blue  ground 
seems  possible  than  is  effected  by  the  aid  of  these  alert  workers 
and  the  perfected  mechanical  devices.  As  soon  as  the  loaded 
trucks  reach  the  shaft,  they  are  tipped  into  loading  chutes  hold- 
ing six  truck-loads  (96  cubic  feet).  As  the  skip  reaches  the 
bottom  a  door  is  opened,  and  the  contents  of  the  chute  run  into 
the  skip  and  are  hoisted  to  the  surface.  Experience  has  shown 
that  the  best  results  are  obtained  by  sending  up  loaded  skips 
from  one  level  at  a  time.  The  simple  and  efficient  device  early 
adopted  in  the  mines  for  tipping  the  loads  from  the  trucks  into 
the  skip  at  No.  i  incline  of  De  Beers  consisted  of  an  iron 
chute.  Four  end-tipping  trucks  were  placed  close  against  the 
edge  of  the  chute  and  the  catches  loosened.  As  soon  as  an 
empty  skip  was  lowered  past  the  chute  the  trucks  were  tipped 
and  the  loads  ran  into  the  chutes  so  rapidly  that  the  engine- 
driver  frequently  received  a  signal  to  hoist  before  his  engine  had 
been  stopped.  The  skip  in  this  incline  held  64  cubic  feet,  or 
four  truck  loads  weighing  1600  Ibs.  each. 


SYSTEMATIC   MINING 


The  time  of  the  journey  through  the  shaft  now  varies  only 
a  little  with  depth,  being  from  thirty-five  to  forty  seconds  from 
the  i2OOor  1520-foot  levels.  On  reaching  the  surface,  the  blue 
ground  is  tipped  automatically  from  the  skips  into  loading  boxes. 
The  "self-dumping"  skips  in  present  use  were  introduced  by 
me  in  1888,  and  were  made  from  drawings  supplied  by  the  Union 
Iron  Works  of  San  Francisco,  and  are  similar  to  the  skips  used 
in  the  mining  districts  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  (On  page  327 
are  shown  the  plans  for 
the  skip  and  the  manner 
of  tipping  into  the  surface 
chutes.)  From  these  chutes 
the  blue  ground  is  loaded 
into  side -tipping  trucks 
holding  20  cubic  feet  each. 
The  average  weight  of  the 
blue  ground  in  a  surface 
truck  is  2000  pounds.  The 
trucks  used  underground 
hold  1 6  cubic  feet,  and  are 
end-tipping  in  the  inter- 
mediate levels  where  the 
ground  is  dumped  into 
passes,  but  have  solid  ends 
on  the  main  levels  where 

revolving    tippers   are    Used.  The  Rock  Shaft,  De  Beers  Mine. 

From  the  depositing  surface  boxes  at  the  winding  shafts,  the 
ground  is  taken  by  means  of  an  endless  wire  rope  haulage  to  the 
"  floors,"  where  it  is  treated  as  described  in  another  chapter. 

Record  Hoisting 

With  alert  and  orderly  handling  of  the  blue  ground  in  the 
mines,  the  rapidity  of  extraction  has  advanced  to  extraordinary 
record  points.  During  the  month  of  July,  1889,  142,567 
loads  were  hoisted  through  a  single  shaft  in  No.  2  incline, 
De  Beers  mine.  The  best  day's  work  of  24  hours  was  6222 


330      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


VERTICAL  TANDEM  COMPOUND  CONDENSING  WINDING  ENGINES 


loads  of  1 6   cubic  feet,  or  4977   short  tons.     For  an  hour  at 

a  time  hoisting  was  carried  on  at  this  shaft  at  the  rate  of  five 

skip-loads  every  three  minutes,  or  400  truck-loads  an  hour, 

lifted  from  the  7OO-foot  level, 
a  distance  of  840  feet  through 
the  inclined  shaft.  The  total 
amount  of  blue  ground 
hoisted  during  the  fiscal  year 
from  April  i,  1889,  to  March 
31,  1890,  was  1,355,089 
loads,  aggregating  1,084,071 
tons  of  2000  pounds.  This 
remarkable  record  was  made 
under  unfavorable  condi- 
tions, because  the  hoisting  en- 
gine was  small,  nominally  of 
70  horse-power,  and  not  de- 
signed for  such  rapid  service. 
With  the  construction  of  new  shafts  and  the  setting  up  of 

engines    and   fittings   of  the 

best  and  latest   designs,  the 

efficiency    of  operation    was 

greatly  increased.   Two  types 

of  winding  engines  have  been 

erected,  and  it  is  interesting 

to  follow  the  changes  which 

have  been  made  in  this  por- 
tion of  the  plant.  The  first 

large  engine  erected  by  the 

De  Beers  Company  was  the 

one  at  De  Beers  rock  shaft. 

Its  cylinders  were  24  inches 

in  diameter,  with  a  stroke  of 

5  feet.     It  had  two   drums, 

each  4  feet  4^  inches  in  width 

and  10  feet  6  inches  in  diam- 


VERTICAL  TANDEM  COMPOUND  CONDENSING  WINDING  ENGINES 


SYSTEMATIC   MINING 


VERTICAL  TANOEM  COMPOUND  CONDENSING  WINDING  ENGINES 


eter,  with  a  grooved  tread  to  prevent  friction 
on  the  rope.  This  engine  was  built  by  well- 
known  makers  of  winding  engines,  whose 
works  are  too  near  the  cheap  coal  centres 
of  England.  The  engine  was  what  is 
called  in  America  a  "sawmill  engine." 
In  the  timber  districts  of  America,  the 
boilers  are  fired  with  slabs  cut  from  the 
round  logs  in  squaring  them.  Enor- 
mous quantities  of  these  slabs  accu- 
mulate about  the  mills,  where  they 
must  be  consumed  in  some  way,  or 
carted  away  at  a  considerable  ex- 
pense. To  get  rid  of  the  slabs 
engines  that  consume  the 
greatest  amount  of  steam 
are  those  most  sought  after. 
In  South  Africa,  on  the  contrary,  the  extraordinary  consumption 
of  steam  was  a  heavy  drawback.  Welsh  steam  coal  then  cost 
_£8  ioj.  ($41.25)  per  ton  of  2000  pounds,  delivered  at  Kim- 
berley,  so  this  "sawmill"  engine  was  converted  from  two  high- 
pressure  cylinders  to  a  cross  compound,  with  cylinders  of  26 
inches  and  40  inches  diameter,  and  the  consumption  of  fuel 
dropped  more  than  30  per  cent.  After  several  years  of  con- 
stant service,  the  engine  was  stopped  June  n,  1896,  the  old 
drum  and  crank  shaft,  weighing  32  tons,  were  taken  out  bodily, 
and  a  new  set,  weighing  40  tons,  substituted  and  made  ready 
for  service  in  less  than  48  hours.  (See  illustrations.)  With 
this  new  outfit  there  was  soon  a  series  of  record-breaking  per- 
formances, which  are  given  below. 

At  the  Kimberley  mine,  the  main  or  rock  shaft  was  started 
on  the  north  side  of  the  mine  in  March,  1889.  I"  tne  &rst  Year 
this  shaft  was  sunk  to  the  depth  of  699  feet,  and,  in  the  following 
year,  it  was  pushed  to  the  depth  of  nearly  1300  feet.  The  driv- 
ing of  the  tunnel  to  the  mine  from  this  shaft  on  the  looo-foot 
level  showed  how  exactly  vertical  was  the  wall  of  the  crater, 


332      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


\Vinding  Engine,  Kimberley  Mine. 

for  the  tunnel,  at  this  depth,  entered  the  blue  ground  1134  feet 
from  the  shaft,  corresponding  almost  precisely  to  the  distance 
from  the  mouth  of  the  shaft  to  the  edge  of  the  melaphyre  at  the 

depth  of  300  feet.  For  hoisting 
service  at  this  shaft,  a  winding-en- 
gine plant  was  especially  designed 
by  the  late  Mr.  Louis  I.  Seymour, 
mechanical  engineer  for  De  Beers 
Consolidated  Mines  Limited,  and 
constructed  by  James  Simpson  & 
Co.,  of  London,  England.  This 
plant  consisted  of  a  pair  of  vertical 
tandem  compound  engines  driving 
two  reels.  These  engines  were  de- 
signed to  hoist  six  truck-loads  in 
one  skip,  from  the  looo-foot  level, 
in  45  seconds,  including  filling, 
Mr.  Louis  i.  Seymour.  starting,  stopping,  and  discharging; 


SYSTEMATIC   MINING 


333 


but  in  practice  they  pulled  up  the  skip  carrying  this  load 
from  the  icoo-foot  level  in  from  30  to  35  seconds.  Flat  ropes 
were  used,  at  first,  on  the  reels,  but  when  the  shaft  was  sunk 
some  hundreds  of  feet  deeper,  round  ropes  were  substituted  by 
the  adoption  of  the  "  Whiting  system,"  first  used  by  Mr.  S.  B. 
Whiting,  general  manager  of  the  Calumet  and  Hecla  Copper 
Company  of  Michigan.  The  dimensions  and  description  of  the 
engines  are  given  in  Appendix  II. 

tE-BEERS  CONSOLIDATED  MINES  LTD. 


PLAN  OF  600  FT.    LEVEL 

BULTFONTEIN  MINE 


The  only  excuse  I  can  offer  for  having  adopted  flat  ropes 
for  winding  is  that  I  was  persuaded  to  do  so  against  my  own 
judgment  by  a  number  of  American  engineers,  and  experience 
proved  that  I  erred  in  so  doing.  Leaving  all  other  disadvan- 
tages aside,  and  they  are  many,  the  extra  cost  of  ropes  per  load 
is  sufficient  to  condemn  the  flat  rope.  The  average  cost  per  load 
for  flat  ropes  was  .6  of  a  penny  against  .076  of  a  penny  with  the 


334      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

present  Whiting  system,  the  saving  amounting  to  more  than 
j£2ooo  per  annum.  This  system  as  modified  in  the  diamond 
mines  is  as  follows  :  The  round  winding  rope,  made  of  the  best 
plough  steel,  extends  from  the  skip  over  the  sheave  on  the  pit- 
head frame  down  to  the  reel  on  the  crank  shaft  of  the  engine, 
thence  four  times  around  this  reel  and  a  corresponding  reel  on  a 
lay  shaft  (centres  of  shafts  being  12  feet  apart) ;  thence  the  rope 
passes  around  an  idler  sheave,  the  shaft  of  which  runs  on  bear- 
ings set  upon  a  movable  frame,  which  is  attached  at  each  end  to 
a  carriage  by  means  of  trunnions.  The  carriage  in  this  case 
runs  upon  a  track  50  feet  long.  From  the  idler  or  tension 
sheave  the  rope  passes  around  a  second  reel  which  is  loose 
upon  the  crank  shaft,  the  centre  of  which  is  in  line  with  the 
second  sheave  upon  the  pit-head  frame. 

By  the  completion  of  the  new  plant  the  output  of  blue 
ground  from  the  Kimberley  mine  was  greatly  increased.  Dur- 
ing the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1893,  I>453>152  loads  were 
taken  from  the  mine  as  against  1,310,994  loads,  the  output 
for  fifteen  months  previous,  an  increase  almost  wholly  due  to 
the  new  hoisting  facilities,  for  fully  three-fourths  of  the  yield 
was  drawn  through  the  main  shaft.  The  product  of  De  Beers 
mine  for  the  same  year  was  still  greater.  The  total  quantity 
hoisted  was  1,637,031  loads,  of  which  1,403,060  loads  were 
drawn  through  the  main  or  rock  shaft,  and  only  233,971  loads 
through  the  No.  2  or  west  end  incline  shaft. 

Drainage 

Thorough  drainage  is  of  manifest  importance  in  the  opera- 
tion of  any  mine,  but  it  is  peculiarly  essential  in  these  diamond 
mines.  At  the  commencement  of  underground  mining  the 
inflowing  water  was  removed  by  steam  pumps.  The  use  of 
such  pumps  was  an  error,  for  the  resultant  heat  and  moisture 
caused  the  blue  ground  to  crumble,  and  made  the  ladderways 
so  hot  that  they  were  at  times  impassable. 

As  soon  as  the  vertical  shafts  were  completed  at  De  Beers 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING  335 

and  Kimberley  mines,  Cornish  pumping  plants  were  put  in,  by 
means  of  which  all  the  water  is  now  pumped  from  the  mines. 
The  average  quantity  of  water  taken  from  De  Beers  mine  is 
435°  gallons  per  diem,  and  from  Kimberley,  8385  gallons. 
Nearly  half  of  the  latter  influx  comes  from  a  crevice  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  quartzite  with  an  intrusive  dike  of  igneous  rock 
which  was  struck  while  driving  the  iioo-foot  tunnel  at  a  dis- 
tance of  600  feet  from  the  mine.  While  no  water  is  found  in 
the  blue  ground  or  mine  itself,  that  which  flows  into  the  mine 
from  the  surrounding  rock  mixes,  as  before  described,  with  the 
debris  which  has  fallen  into  the  worked-out  portion  of  the 
De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines,  and  makes  mud.  Enormous 
quantities  of  this  mixture  are  from  time  to  time  forced  suddenly 
into  the  working  parts  of  the  mine,  which  are  connected  by  tun- 
nels with  the  loose  debris.  At  times  hundreds  of  feet  of  tunnels 
were  filled  in  a  few  minutes.  Mud  rushes  became  so  frequent 
that  the  working  of  the  mines  was  seriously  interfered  with,  and 
the  loss  of  life  was  very  great. 

At  Kimberley  mine,  large  springs  of  water  flowed  into 
the  open  works  at  the  junction  of  the  melaphyre  with  the 
shale.  Only  a  small  part  of  the  melaphyre  was  then  exposed 
to  view,  and  the  position  of  the  other  part  was  unknown. 
A  tunnel  was  started  from  the  Standard  shaft,  and  driven  to 
the  south  around  the  mine.  Another  tunnel  was  started  from 
the  Harvey  shaft  and  driven  to  the  west  end  around  the  mine 
in  the  opposite  direction  until  the  two  tunnels  met.  The 
total  length  was  2097  feet.  Through  these  tunnels  all  the 
surface  water  and  all  water  coming  into  the  mine  above  the 
melaphyre  was  taken  up  and  led  to  the  pumps  by  means  of 
pipes.  All  water  which  enters  the  mine  in  the  deeper  work- 
ings is  taken  down  in  passes,  sunk  in  the  rock  outside  of  the 
mine.  By  these  precautions  mud  rushes  have  been  completely 
stopped  in  Kimberley  mine,  and  none  have  occurred  for  many 
years  past. 

De  Beers  mine  has  not  been  so  fortunate,  and  mud  rushes 
are  of  frequent  occurrence,  although  the  quantity  of  water  in 


336       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

this  mine  is  only  about  one-half  that  of  the  Kimberley  mine. 
The  following  work  is  being  done  with  the  view  of  preventing 
them.  A  tunnel  is  being  driven  around  the  mine  at  the  hard 
rock  (melaphyre)  level,  about  380  feet  from  the  surface,  in 
order  to  take  up  the  water  which  flows  into  the  open  mine 
below  the  shale.  Tunnels  are  also  being  driven  on  the  1000- 
foot  level  on  the  south  and  east  sides  of  the  mine,  which  will  be 
continued  until  they  meet.  Diamond  drills  are  at  work  making 
holes  between  levels,  with  the  view  of  tapping  the  water. 
Everything  feasible  will  be  done  to  free  De  Beers  mine  from  the 
plague  of  water  as  perfectly  as  it  has  been  done  at  Kimberley 
mine.  The  problems  are  not  the  same,  however,  for  in  Kim- 
berley mine  the  debris  had  followed  down  as  the  blue  ground 
was  extracted,  and  had  left  the  hard  rock  more  or  less  exposed 
to  view,  and  one  could  see  in  places  where  the  streams  of  water 
flowed  into  the  open  mine ;  but  in  De  Beers  no  hard  rock  has 
been  exposed  until  lately,  and  one  must  grope  in  the  dark,  as  it 
were,  to  find  out  where  the  water  enters  the  open  or  worked-out 
portions  of  the  mine. 

The  pumping  plants  for  freeing  the  mines  from  water  have 
kept  pace  fully  with  the  advance  in  the  hoisting  plants.  For 
the  service  of  De  Beers  mine,  a  new  pumping  engine  was 
erected  at  the  rock  shaft  in  1889.  This  is  a  compound  sur- 
face-condensing engine  made  by  James  Simpson  &  Company, 
of  London.  Its  high-pressure  cylinder  is  ''4^4  inches  diam- 
eter, and  its  low  pressure,  21  inches,  with  a  stroke  of  30  inches, 
It  is  capable  of  developing  120  horse-power.  With  this  engine  an 
average  of  nearly  6000  gallons  an  hour  was  readily  drained  from 
the  mine  from  the  start,  and  no  difficulty  was  experienced  in  lift- 
ing over  8000  gallons  an  hour  at  times.  The  cost  of  pumping 
is  largely  offset  by  using  the  water  drained  from  the  mine  for 
washing  the  pulverized  blue  ground.  By  combining  this  sup- 
ply with  that  obtained  from  surface  reservoirs,  enough  water 
was  obtained  for  the  use  of  the  concentrating  plants,  except  in 
very  dry  seasons.  For  the  Kimberley  mine  a  Cornish  pumping 
plant  of  400  horse-power,  from  designs  by  the  late  Mr.  L.I. 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING  337 

Seymour,  was  erected  in  1891.  This  is  a  vertical  triple-expan- 
sion condensing  engine,  with  cylinders  15^  inches,  23^  inches, 
and  37  inches  in  diameter,  and  a  stroke  of  36  inches.  The  gears 
for  this  engine  were  made  by  Fraser  &  Chalmers,  of  Chicago, 
Illinois,  and  the  crank  shafts  by  Sir  J.  Whitworth,  of  Manches- 
ter, England,  but  the  main  constructors  were  James  Simpson 
&  Co.  Ltd.,  of  London.  (See  Appendix  III.)  With  this 
plant  an  average  of  over  12,000  gallons  a  day  was  readily 
pumped  from  the  mine  in  the  first  year  after  its  erection, 
and  since  then  there  has  been  no  further  difficulty  in  handling 
the  influx  of  water  into  the  workings. 


Compressed  Air 

For  all  underground  service  in  the  mines,  in  driving  sinking 
engines,  mechanical  haulages,  rock  drills,  and  any  other  machin- 
ery where  power  is  necessary,  steam  has  been  supplanted  by 
compressed  air.  Electricity  has  also  been  used  for  some  of  these 
purposes,  and  is  the  cheaper  and  better  power  for  many  of  the 
uses  for  which  steam  and  compressed  air  have  been  used. 

Lighting 

For  lighting,  the  application  of  electricity  has  already  proved 
to  be  almost  indispensable.  All  tunnels  and  ladderways  through- 
out the  mines  are  lighted  by  electricity.  In  the  stopes  and  other 
working  faces  candles  are  used.  Electric  lights  have  been  found 
to  be  of  the  greatest  assistance  in  enabling  the  men  to  get  away 
from  rushes  of  mud.  These  occur  at  times  when  some  of  the 
galleries  are  "  hung  up "  (to  use  a  miner's  expression),  which 
means  when  the  tops  of  some  of  the  galleries  are  choked  with 
huge  pieces  of  blue  ground.  The  roof  suddenly  gives  way  from 
the  pressure  of  mud  above,  and  all  open  lights,  such  as  candles, 
are  put  out  by  the  force  of  the  concussion  of  the  air,  and,  were 
it  not  for  the  electric  lights,  the  tunnels  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
mud  rush  would  be  in  total  darkness. 


338      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Other  Electric  Service 

Electric  bells  are  in  use  throughout  the  mines,  and  have 
very  greatly  promoted  the  rapidity  of  hoisting  through  the 
shafts.  Owing  to  instantaneous  communication  between  the 
man  in  charge  of  loading  the  skips  and  the  engine-driver,  hun- 
dreds of  loads  more  are  sent  to  the  surface  daily  than  could 
be  forwarded  under  the  old  "  pull  bell  "  system.  For  instant 
additional  communication  between  the  surface  and  the  under- 
ground work  telephones  have  been  installed,  and  the  same  rapid 
communication  extends  to  the  depositing  floors,  concentration 
works,  and  offices  of  the  company. 

Natural  Ventilation 

The  Kimberley  mine  is  ventilated  in  a  somewhat  peculiar 
manner.  The  rock  shafts  at  both  De  Beers  and  Kimberley 
mines  are  downcast,  i.e.,  the  air  for  ventilation  goes  down  these 
shafts,  along  the  bottom  tunnels  and  thence  up  through  the 
various  levels,  and  it  is  fortunate  for  the  men  working  in  the 
mine  that  it  is  so,  for  the  cool  air  comes  in  at  the  bottom  and 
ventilates  the  mine  much  better  than  if  the  rock  shaft  drew  the 
heated  air  down  through  all  the  lower  workings.  The  upcast 
in  Kimberley  mine  is  through  the  Harvey  shaft,  the  top  of 
which  is  300  feet  below  the  top  of  the  rock  shaft.  This  shaft, 
with  which  the  various  levels  of  the  mine  are  connected,  extends 
down  to  the  I2oo-foot  level,  and  a  similar  shaft  or  winze  situated 
near  it  extends  from  the  I2oo-foot  to  the  levels  below.  As  the 
top  levels  in  the  mine  are  the  hottest,  the  current  of  air  ascends 
through  the  Harvey  shaft.  The  usual  direction  of  air  currents 
in  mines  with  two  shafts  and  natural  ventilation  is  down  the 
shorter  shaft  and  up  the  shaft  the  mouth  of  which  is  situated  at 
the  greater  height  on  the  surface.  The  reverse  is  the  case  at 
Kimberley  mine.  The  quantity  of  air  which  passes  down 
De  Beers  rock  shaft  was  33,300  cubic  feet  per  minute  until 
1898,  when  the  enlargement  of  the  upcast  shaft  was  completed, 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING  339 

and  the  air  current  was  increased  to  45,000  cubic  feet  per 
minute.  In  the  Kimberley  mine  the  influx  of  air  per  minute 
is  25,500  cubic  feet. 

Temperatures 

At  De  Beers,  with  temperature  of  the  air  on  the  surface 
79°  F.,  the  temperature  ranges  from  75°  to  77°  in  the  tunnels 
leading  to  the  mine  on  the  1000,  1200,  and  i4OO-foot  levels. 
The  temperature  of  the  air  as  it  leaves  the  mine  on  the  8oo-foot 
level  is  84°.  The  temperature  of  the  mud  after  a  mud  rush 
was  on  one  occasion  85°  F.  Temperatures  at  Kimberley  mine 
in  the  i2oo-foot  tunnel  were,  for  the  air,  71°. 5;  for  the  rock, 
72°. i  ;  for  the  large  spring  of  water  78°. 9  F.  The  quantity  of 
water  flowing  from  this  spring,  which  is  about  600  feet  from  the 
crater,  is  3500  gallons  an  hour.  The  temperature  in  the  work- 
ing galleries  on  this  level  is  87°.  Springs  of  water  on  the  1520 
and  i84O-foot  levels  gave  83°. 8  and  8i°.9  respectively,  the 
water  in  the  lower  level  being  the  cooler. 

The  Output  of  Slue  Ground 

The  table  of  statistics  (Appendix  V)  gives  the  amount  of 
blue  ground  produced  from  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines  since 
the  formation  of  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited. 
In  the  same  table  of  statistics  will  be  found  the  average  cost 
of  production  per  load.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  lowest  cost  was 
for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1894,  —  6s.  6.8d.  per  load.  This 
includes  all  charges  from  the  mining  of  the  ground  to  the 
delivery  of  the  diamonds  to  the  valuators.  All  mine  charges, 
including  shaft-sinking,  tunnelling,  etc.,  are  charged  to  current 
expenses.  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  the  same  table  the  great- 
est output  of  each  mine  through  a  single  shaft  for  various 
periods  of  time.  The  maximum  amount  of  blue  ground  pro- 
duced in  one  year  was  1,746,240  loads  from  De  Beers  mine  for 
the  year  ending  December  31,  1897.  This  ground  was  raised 
from  a  depth  of  1000  feet  from  the  beginning  of  the  year  until 
June  14,  when  winding  commenced  from  the  isoo-foot  level. 


340      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

At  Kimberley  mine,  the  maximum  output  from  one  shaft  was 
1,600,422  loads  for  the  year  ending  December  31,  1893,  hoisted 
from  a  depth  of  1000  feet.  These  figures  do  not  include  the 
waste  or  "reef"  which  is  taken  out,  amounting  to  100,651  loads 
from  De  Beers  mine  and  64,799  loads  from  Kimberley  mine 
during  the  year. 

During  the  month  of  November,  1898,  208,013  loads  of 
blue  ground  equal  to  166,410  tons  of  2000  pounds,  were  hoisted 
through  the  two  skip  compartments  of  De  Beers  rock  shaft  and 
from  a  depth  of  1200  feet.  The  winding  stops  from  Saturday 
night  at  eleven  o'clock  until  Monday  morning  at  six.  The 
average  number  of  loads  of  blue  ground  hoisted  per  hour  was  349. 
The  average  daily  output  for  a  full  day's  work  was  8376  loads, 
and  for  Saturdays  5933.  The  best  day's  record  was  9790  loads, 
the  best  week's  record  was  50,450.  In  the  above  records  no  ac- 
count has  been  taken  of  stoppages  during  working  hours  nor  is 
the  quantity  of  waste,  which  was  11,992  loads  during  the  month, 
taken  into  account.  Previous  to  this  the  best  month's  produc- 
tion was  from  De  Beers  mine,  in  November,  1897,  a  total  of 
197,173  loads  from  the  I2oo-foot  level.  In  Kimberley  mine, 
the  best  records  for  a  month  were  in  November,  1893,  when 
157,847  loads  were  taken  from  the  looo-foot  level,  working 
three  shifts  of  eight  hours  each  per  day,  and  108,627  loads  from 
the  i2OO-foot  level  in  May,  1895,  working  twelve  hours  per  day. 

The  best  week's  record  from  Kimberley  mine,  winding  by 
day  only,  was  27,418  loads  in  sixty-nine  hours  from  the  1520- 
foot  level  for  the  week  ending  September  22,  1897.  No  account 
has  been  taken  of  any  lost  time. 

From  the  above  figures  it  will  be  observed  that  all  records 
have  been  broken  for  winding  ground  through  a  single  shaft  with 
two  skip  compartments. 

Labor  and  Wages 

The  following  table  shows  the  average  number  of  men 
employed  in  and  about  the  mines  worked  by  De  Beers  Consoli- 
dated Mines  Limited,  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1897  :  — 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING 


EMPLOYES 
The  average  number  of  persons  daily  employed  is  as  follows  :  — 


DE  BERKS. 

KlMHfcRLEY. 

PREMIER. 

WORKSHOPS. 

ON  THE  ESTATES 
AND  ELSEWHERE. 

Whites. 

Blacks. 

Whites. 

Blacks. 

Whites 

Blacks. 

Whites. 

Blacks. 

Whites. 

Blacki. 

Above  ground 
Underground 

477 
212 

1851 
2OOI 

187 
•83 

925 
1322 

46 

>°5 

423 

489 

388 

211 

28 

118 

TOTAL. 


Above  ground 
Underground 


Grand  total  . 


Whites. 

Blacks. 

1126 
500 

3528 
3812 

1626 

7340 

The  average  number  of  white  men  employed  has  increased  to  over  2000  and  the  num- 
ber of  natives  to  over  11,000. 

NATIONALITIES    OF   WHITE    EMPLOYES 
PERCENTAGES 


IN  AND  ABOUT  THE 
MINES  AND  FLOORS. 

AT  THE  WORKSHOPS. 

1894. 

i897. 

,894. 

1897- 

English  ........ 

52.2 

46.5 

41.5 

37-' 

Scotch    ........ 

6.2 

7-2 

23-3 

2O.6 

Irish        

4.8 

5.6 

2.4 

2.8 

South  Africans        ...... 

33-i 

36.8 

27.1 

33-3 

European        ....... 

1.8 

'•5 

4.2 

4-7 

Other  Nations         ...... 

1.9 

24 

'•5 

'•5 

100 

100 

IOO 

IOO 

WAGES 

The  following  figures  give  about  the  average  wages  paid  for  various  kinds  of 
labor  at  the  mines  :  mechanics,  ^5  to  £j  per  week  ;  miners,  from  ^5  to  £6 
per  week  ;  guards  and  tallymen,  from  £$.  to  £$  per  week  ;  engine-drivers,  ^6 
to  -£j  per  week  ;  natives  in  the  underground  works,  from  y.  to  $s.  a  day. 

Overseers,  from  ^3  1 2s.  to  ^4  zs. ;  machine  men  and  assorters,  from  _-£$ 
to  £6  ;  natives  (ordinary  laborers),  ijs.  6d.  to  2 is.  per  week;  drivers,  from 
2$s.  to  zjs.  6d.  per  week.  Every  employe  has  a  percentage  on  the  value  of 
diamonds  found  by  himself.  On  the  floors  the  white  employes  receive  is.  6d.  and 
the  natives  ^d.  per  carat.  Nearly  double  these  amounts  are  paid  for  stones  found  in 
the  mines. 


342      THE    DIAiMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein  Mines 

If  operations  were  not  pushed  with  the  like  energy  and  lib- 
erality of  outlay  in  Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein  mines,  it  was 
simply  because  of  sound  economic  considerations,  and  impedi- 
ments unreasonably  placed  in  the  way  of  projected  developments. 
Heavy  falls  of  reef  had  very  greatly  damaged  the  open  work- 
ings in  Dutoitspan  mine  before  it  came  into  possession  of  the 


Mount  Ararat  before  Blasting.  (Removal  of  a  piece  of  "  Floating  Reef,"  Bultfontein  Mine,  1901. 
It  was  150  feet  long,  50  feet  wide,  and  120  feet  high.  180  holes  were  drilled  in  it  and  charged 
with  1050  pounds  of  No.  i  dynamite.) 

De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines.  In  spite  of  this  obstacle,  work 
was  carried  on  actively  for  a  time,  until  it  became  certain  that  no 
profit  could  be  made  by  working  this  mine  and  the  continuance 
of  operations  would  have  caused  great  loss  directly  to  the  con- 
trolling corporation.  If  diamonds  were  like  gold  and  there  was 
an  unlimited  demand  for  the  product,  Dutoitspan  mine  would 
assuredly  have  been  worked  as  long  as  it  paid  expenses  and  the 
barest  margin  of  profit.  But,  seeing  that  the  demand  for  dia- 


SYSTEMATIC   MINING 


343 


monds,  or  any  other  precious  stones,  is  practically  limited  to  the 
amount  marketable  without  breaking  down  the  prices  dis- 
astrously to  the  producer  as  well  as  to  every  dealer  and  cutter, 
work  in  Dutoitspan  mine  was  suspended  at  the  close  of  1889. 
The  mine  is  still  idle,  but  a  large  shaft  was  started  in  1901  for 
the  purpose  of  working  it  at  some  future  date. 


Shots  Fired. 

Bultfontein  mine  might  have  proved  more  profitable,  but  in 
1889  an  immense  fall  of  reef,  covering  nearly  the  whole  bottom 
of  the  mine,  made  open  work  impossible,  except  over  a  very  small 
area.  In  face  of  this  situation  shafts  would  have  been  started 
and  underground  work  on  a  systematic  plan  prosecuted,  had  it 
not  been  for  obstacles  set  in  the  way  by  the  lessors,  the  London 
and  South  African  Exploration  Company.  It  was  not  antici- 
pated that  there  would  be  any  profit  in  instituting  these  costly 


344 


THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 


underground  works  at  that  time,  but  the  directors  of  De  Beers 
mines  desired  to  furnish  employment  to  miners  out  of  work, 
and  the  mine  would  have  been  opened  and  explored  on  a  return 
of  bare  expenses,  if  the  lessors  had  seen  fit  to  make  reasonable 
terms.  As  their  demands  were  considered  exorbitant,  work  in 
this  mine  was  also  stopped  in  1889,  and  was  only  commenced 


A  Second  after  Firing. 

again  in  1900.  Plan  on  p.  333  shows  how  the  mine  is  being 
opened.  There  are  nearly  13,000,000  loads  of  blue  ground 
in  sight  above  the  6oo-foot  level. 

Premier  Mine 

In  December,  1891,  the  farm,  Benaauwdheidsfontein,  adjoin- 
ing Kimberley,  and  lying  on  the  border  line  between  Griqualand 
West  and  the  Orange  Free  State,  was  purchased  in  full  by  the  De 


SYSTEMATIC   MINING  345 

Beers  Consolidated  Mines.  On  this  property  the  Wesselton  or 
Premier  mine,  situate  about  four  miles  from  the  town  of  Kimber- 
ley  (plan  at  pages  316-317  gives  its  position  relative  to  the  other 
mines),  had  been  discovered  in  September,  1890,  by  a  Dutchman, 
Fabricius,  who  was  prospecting  for  an  old  resident  of  the  dia- 
mond fields,  Mr.  Henry  A.  Ward,  who  had  a  bond  on  the  Wes- 
sels'  estate,  or  an  option  to  purchase  the  property  for  ^175,000 
within  a  stated  period  of  time.  When  a  man  has  no  money, 


The  Mine  Filled  with  Smoke. 

and  Ward  had  little  or  none  at  that  time,  it  matters  very  little 
to  him  what  amount  he  has  to  pay  for  such  a  property,  for  he 
does  not  want  the  farm  unless  he  finds  a  payable  diamond  mine, 
and  if  he  does  find  a  mine,  some  one  else  supplies  the  funds.  In 
this  case  the  mine  was  found,  but  it  was  one  chance  in  a  million. 
Only  a  small  portion  of  Wessels'  farm  was  in  the  Cape  Colony, 
and  it  was  upon  this  portion  that  the  mine  was  discovered. 

Scores  of  sanitary  pits  had  been  sunk  within  a  stone's  throw 
of  the  mine  before  the  prospector  Fabricius  sunk  a  hole  at  ran- 


346      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

dom,  without  any  apparent  reason,  through  ten  feet  of  limestone 
and  found  yellow  ground.  It  was  soon  noised  about,  and  the 
mine  was  rushed  and  jumped  by  a  crowd  from  Kimberley  and 
Beaconsfield,  consisting  to  a  great  extent  of  members  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor.  Hundreds  of  claims  (30  feet  by  30  feet) 
were  pegged  off,  and  holes  averaging  3  feet  by  6  feet  were  sunk 
all  over  the  place,  looking  far  more  like  open  graves  than  pros- 
pectors' shafts  ;  in  fact,  they  proved  to  be  the  graves  of  the 


After  the  Smoke  has  cleared  away. 

hopes  of  the  reckless  jumpers  of  private  property.      Many  of 
the  holes  were  sunk  outside  of  the  area  of  the  present  mine. 

Ward  had  the  sole  right  of  prospecting  for  minerals  upon 
this  farm,  which  was  held  under  his  agreement  with  Wessels; 
but  for  some  time  the  jumpers  held  their  ground  regardless  of 
its  legal  ownership,  and  their  contest  was  the  more  bumptious 
from  the  fact  that  the  mine  was  only  a  few  hundred  yards  from 
the  boundary  line  between  the  Colony  and  the  Free  State. 
Title  to  Wessels'  farm  was  originally  granted  by  the  Free  State. 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING  347 

By  the  laws  of  this  State  all  minerals  belong  to  the  owners  of 
the  farms  upon  which  they  are  found.  In  the  settlement  of  the 
boundary  line  between  the  Free  State  and  Griqualand  West  it 
was  agreed  that  the  farmers  who  had  held  titles  to  their  farms 
under  the  laws  of  the  Free  State  should  retain  the  right  to  any 
minerals  that  might  be  found  upon  them.  After  months  of 
wrangling,  Ward's  claim  was  established  beyond  dispute.  Ward 
was  without  means  to  continue  prospecting,  and  parted  with  half 
his  rights  for  ^3,000.  When  the  mine  was  discovered,  De  Beers 
Consolidated  Mines  bought  the  interest  which  Ward  had  sold, 
for  which  they  paid  ^120,000.  Ward  disputed  De  Beers  owner- 
ship to  an  undivided  one-half  interest  in  the  property.  The 
case  came  to  trial  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Cape  Colony, 
the  mine  having  been  discovered  in  that  part  of  the  farm  lying 
within  the  Colony.  Judgment  was  given  in  favor  of  De  Beers, 
and  that  Company  became  joint  owner  with  Ward  in  the  prop- 
erty, now  called  the  Premier  Mine,  named  by  Ward  in  honor  of 
Rhodes,  who  was  at  the  time  Premier  of  the  Colony,  and  with 
whom  he  had  conducted  most  of  the  negotiation  in  relation  to 
the  purchase  of  the  mine  and  the  final  disposition  of  his  interest. 
In  the  meantime  Ward  had  obtained  an  extension  of  his 
option  for  an  additional  sum  of  ^125,000.  The  directors  of 
De  Beers  mines  were  in  no  way  consulted  in  this  matter.  The 
time  for  taking  up  the  option  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  as 
Ward  did  not  have  the  money  to  pay  for  his  half,  it  was  mutually 
agreed  that  De  Beers  should  pay  the  purchase  price  of  ^300,000, 
Ward  becoming  responsible  for  the  repayment  of  his  half. 
After  considerable  negotiation  Ward  agreed  to  cede  his  interest 
in  the  mine  on  the  following  conditions :  that  he  should  take 
over  the  mine  for  a  period  of  five  years,  during  which  time  he 
had  the  right  to  take  out  5,000,000  loads,  equal  to  4,000,000 
tons  of  diamond-bearing  ground.  Diamond-bearing  and  blue  are 
not  synonymous  terms  here,  for  Ward  took  out  yellow  ground 
to  the  depth  of  about  60  feet.  The  mine  was  surveyed  as 
accurately  as  possible.  An  allowance  of  8  feet  in  depth  was 
made  for  the  surface  limestone  which  covered  the  mine  and 


348      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING  349 

which  was  supposed  to  be  »o«-diamond-bearing.  It  was  also 
agreed  that  a  load  of  ground  in  place  should  be  9.6  cubic  feet, 
but  this  was  afterward  increased  to  10.6,  as  it  was  found  that 
9.6  cubic  feet  of  yellow  ground  would  not  make  a  load  when 
broken.  From  the  preliminary  washing  of  ground  taken  from 
various  parts  of  the  mine,  it  was  estimated  that  the  mine  would 
yield  about  16  carats  per  hundred  loads  washed.  Ward  took 
possession  of  the  mine,  and  through  contractors  erected  a 
large  washing  plant  capable  of  washing  4,000  to  5,000  loads 
daily.  During  the  five  years  Ward  mined  and  washed  the 
5,000,000  loads  to  which  he  was  entitled.  The  yield  was  about 
20  carats  per  100  loads  by  means  of  the  first  sortings,  and  pos- 
sibly two  or  three  carats  more  were  obtained  by  subsequent  sort- 
ing, so  that  the  total  number  of  carats  obtained  reached  about 
1,100,000.  As  to  the  price  realized  for  these  diamonds  and  the 
cost  of  producing  them,  I  have  no  knowledge,  but  one  may 
assume  that  the  average  value  of  the  diamonds  was  about  i8j. 
per  carat,  and  that  the  cost  of  mining  and  washing  did  not 
exceed  is.  6d.  per  carat,  if  it  reached  that  figure.  The  first  60 
feet  were  easily  mined,  as  the  ground  was  decomposed  and  could 
be  sent  direct  to  the  washing  machines  from  the  mine.  At  the 
present  time,  under  De  Beers  management,  blue  ground  is  mined 
and  deposited,  harrowed  and  watered,  and  then  loaded  and  sent 
to  the  washing  machines  for  a  cost  of  about  is.  id.  a  load. 

From  the  year  1871,  when  the  four  mines  at  Kimberley 
and  the  Jagersfontein  mine  were  discovered,  a  period  of  twenty- 
one  years  elapsed  during  which  no  paying  diamond  mine  was 
found,  although  continuous  prospecting  was  carried  on.  The 
Premier  mine  was  covered  for  an  average  depth  of  eight 
feet  with  lime,  which  for  the  most  part  was  diamond-bearing. 
The  formation  of  the  lime  seems  to  have  been  the  result  of  the 
evaporation  of  water  highly  impregnated  with  lime,  or  possibly 
springs  existed  in  the  localities,  whose  waters  were  highly  impreg- 
nated with  carbonate  of  lime,  which  was  deposited  by  the  evapo- 
ration of  the  water.  Water,  in  many  of  the  lime-covered  dis- 
tricts, is  found  very  near  the  surface.  On  the  Wesselton  estate 


350      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING 


$52       THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

it  shows  itself  in  numerous  "  fonteins  "  or  springs.  Below  the 
lime  coverlet  the  diamond-bearing  yellow  ground  extended  to  a 
depth  of  sixty  feet,  where  it  changed  to  blue  ground.  The 
work  which  had  been  done  proved  the  area  of  the  mine,  and  it 
was  found  to  contain  about  1162  claims  of  diamond-bearing 
ground,  equal  to  about  24  acres. 

Under  Ward's  administration  the  diamond-bearing  ground 
was  removed  by  means  of  trucks  drawn  by  an  endless  chain 
haulage,  which  delivered  them  at  the  top  of  a  large  washing 
plant,  where  it  was  at  once  treated. 

In  January,  1896,  Ward's  lease  expired,  and  from  that  time 
work  in  this  mine  has  been  constantly  carried  on  by  the 
De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines.  An  incline  with  a  grade  of  one 
foot  in  five  was  constructed  in  1896;  the  drainage  water  from 
all  parts  of  the  mine  was  concentrated  in  a  sump,  and  a  pump- 
ing plant  erected  capable  of  handling  the  great  influx  of  water, 
averaging  42,726  gallons  an  hour  in  1896,  or  about  7,178,000 
gallons  a  week.  At  the  end  of  that  year  the  new  works  were 
so  far  advanced  that  271,777  loads  of  blue  ground  had  been 
raised.  For  the  economic  working  of  this  mine,  a  complete 
mining  and  washing  plant,  with  compounds,  machine  shops, 
stores,  and  other  necessary  buildings,  was  installed  soon  after 
the  mine  was  turned  over  to  the  Company  by  the  lessee. 

The  incline  mentioned  above  was  made  through  the  marginal 
reef,  and  down  to  a  depth  of  185  feet.  At  present  the  diamond- 
bearing  blue  ground  is  hauled  from  the  mine  by  means  of  an 
endless  wire  rope  haulage  (see  illustration  opposite)  driven  by  an 
engine  on  the  surface.  The  mine  is  being  worked  in  sections  of 
50  feet  in  depth.  The  ground  is  broken  by  drilling  deep  holes 
(12  feet)  with  jumper  drills  and  blasting  with  dynamite.  The 
average  number  of  loads  broken  per  case  of  dynamite  (50  Ibs. 
net)  is  416,  equal  to  333  tons.  The  breaking  of  the  ground 
was  formerly  done  by  contract,  and  cost  tfad.  per  load  delivered 
upon  the  "  flat-sheets "  near  the  mine  end  of  the  wire  rope 
haulage.  This  mining  is  now  done  by  the  Company.  Loading 
is  done  in  the  mine  upon  the  contract  system,  by  paying  the 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING 


353 


Premier  Mine,  looking  up  the  Incline. 

natives  i$s.  for  100  loads.  The  cost  of  hauling  and  depositing 
is  about  6d.  per  load.  In  open  mining  the  natives  are  paid  i$s. 
per  100  loads  (80  tons)  for  loading  and  delivering  to  a  flat- 
sheet  from  100  to  150  feet  from  the  place  of  loading.  On 
the  floors,  after  the  ground  is  pulverized,  I2s.  per  100  loads  is 
paid  for  reloading.  The  ground  is  treated  in  the  same  manner 
as  at  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines,  which  will  be  described  in 
the  following  chapter. 

There  is  a  large  body  of  floating  reef  in  the  mine,  which 
measured  about  350  feet  by  200  feet  on  the  surface,  but,  at  the 
depth  of  500  feet,  it  has  been  nearly  displaced  by  diamond-bearing 
ground.  As  already  mentioned,  these  large  blocks  of  floating 
reef  are  portions  of  the  country  rock  which  have  broken  loose 


2  A 


354        THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

during  the  time  the  craters  were  being  filled,  and  were  not 
incorporated  in  the  breccia  of  which  the  blue  ground  is  com- 
posed. In  some  instances  the  "floating  reef,"  or  "islands,"  is 


One  of  the  Early  Washing  Machines. 

the  same  as  the  amygdaloid  rock  or  melaphyre,  which  surrounds 
the  mines  at  a  depth  varying  from  300  to  400  feet,  but,  as  a  rule, 
somewhat  altered.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  aerial  gear  is  not 
used  at  the  Premier  mine,  and  the  reason  is  that  for  shallow 
depths,  or  for  depths  down  to  200  feet,  inclines,  either  open  cuts 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING 


355 


or  shafts  inclined  to  as  great  an  angle  as  it  is  practicable  for  a 
wire  rope  haulage  to  work,  are  more  economical. 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  difficulties  of  falling  reefs,  which 
caused  so  much  trouble  in  the  other  mines,  have  not  yet  arisen. 
A  belt  of  blue  ground  some  seventy  feet  in  thickness  has  been 
left  standing  in  places  to  support  the  friable  decomposed  basalt 
and  shale  with  which  the  mine  is  surrounded.  This  is  but  a 
temporary  remedy,  and  one  which  does  not  recommend  itself  to 


One  of  the  Present  Washing  Plants. 

the  engineer,  owing  to  the  value  of  the  ground  which  is  being 
temporarily  sacrificed.  It  is  my  intention  to  combine  the  open 
with  the  underground  system,  and  to  remove  the  blue  ground 
which  lies  adjacent  to  the  reef  in  the  same  manner  as  it  is  now 
done  in  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  work  the  remaining  portion  of  the  mine  in  the  open,  as  at 
present,  so  long  as  open  mining  can  be  safely  and  economically 
carried  on.  Owing  to  the  enormous  flow  of  water  from  the  reef 
into  the  mine  (the  blue  ground  itself  contains  no  water),  it  will 
be  necessary  to  sink  a  shaft,  and  to  drive  tunnels  to  tap  these 
large  springs,  and  lead  the  water  away  from  the  mine.  The 


356      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING 


357 


average  quantity  of  water  pumped  from  the  mine  is  about 
40,000  gallons  per  hour,  or  more  than  three  times  the  quantity 
which  is  pumped  from  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines  com- 
bined. In  order  to  make  use  of  this  water,  it  is  pumped  to 
De  Beers  floors  for  washing  the  blue  ground,  and  to  the  village 
of  Kenilworth  for  irrigation  purposes. 

The  average  yield  of  diamonds  for  several  years  past  under 
De  Beers  management  has  been  three-tenths  of  a  carat  per  load. 


No.  2  Washing  Plant,  De  Beers  Floors. 

The  value  of  the  Premier  mine  diamonds  as  compared  with 
those  from  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines  is  about  twenty  per 
cent  less,  owing  to  the  greater  proportion  of  boart  and  small 
diamonds.  The  diamonds  from  this  mine  show  distinctive  char- 
acteristics, and  a  parcel  of  them  can  be  easily  distinguished  from 
those  produced  from  other  mines.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
production  of  this  mine  could  be  raised  to  1,000,000  carats 
per  annum.  The  mine  is  being  developed  for  the  commence- 
ment of  underground  mining.  Plan  on  page  318  shows  the 
shape  and  size  of  the  mine  on  the  5oo-foot  level.  It  is 
estimated  that  there  are  13,000,000  loads,  equal  to  10,400,- 
ooo  tons,  of  blue  ground  in  sight  above  this  level.  The 
Premier  mine  may,  therefore,  be  looked  upon  as  a  mine  of 
very  great  value,  and  one  which  will  play  an  important  part  in 
the  future  history  of  the  diamond-mining  industry. 


358      THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Jagersfontein 

Mention  has  been  made  previously  of  the  Jagersfontein 
mine.  It  was  the  first  of  the  so-called  "  dry  mines  "  discov- 
ered. The  mine  is  very  large,  containing  1 1 24  claims.  The 
average  yield  of  the  ground  is  about  twelve  carats  per  one  hun- 
dred loads.  The  quality  of  the  diamonds  far  surpasses  the 
yield  of  any  other  crater.  The  mine  is  noted  for  its  large  blue- 
white  diamonds,  and,  now  and  again,  an  exceptionally  large  stone 
is  found.  One  stone  cut  as  a  brilliant  weighs  239  carats  and  is 
without  a  flaw. 

Two  full-size  reproductions  are  here  given  of  the  largest  dia- 
mond found  in  the  mine,  its  weight  being  969^  carats.  For 

many  years  after  their 
discovery,  the  richer 
mines  of  Kimberley 
offered  greater  induce- 
ments to  the  digger  as 
well  as  to  the  investor, 
but  the  fever  for  con- 
solidation attacked  the 
directors  of  some  of  the 
principal  companies  in 
this  mine,  and  the  New 
Jagersfontein  Mining 
and  Exploration  Com- 
pany Limited  was 
incorporated  in  1888, 
about  the  same  time 
as  De  Beers,  and  the 
various  interests  were 
gradually  absorbed. 
The  mine  is  still  worked  in  the  open,  and  during  the  last  few 
years  has  had  some  difficulty  with  falls  of  reef,  which  is  quartzite 
from  the  surface  down.  In  1900  the  mine  had  reached  a  depth 
of  450  feet  in  the  lowest  workings. 


Excelsior  Diamond,  969}  Carats.     (Found  in  Jagersfontein 
Mine.     Actual  Size.) 


SYSTEMATIC    MINING  359 

The  output  of  blue  ground  for  the  year  ending  jist  March, 
1899  (the  last  full  year's  work  before  the  war)  was  2,600,000 
loads,  and  the  diamonds  produced  amounted  to  289,000  carats, 
which  realised  about  ^500,000.  The  dividends  paid  during 
the  same  period  amounted  to  ^£  150,000,  equal  to  fifteen  per 
cent  on  the  capital. 


Another  View  of  the  Excelsior  Diamond. 


CHAPTER   XII 


WINNING    THE     DIAMONDS 


T  has  been  shown  how  resourceful  engineering 
mastered  the  problem  of  the  extraction  of  the 
diamond-bearing  deposits  swiftly  and  systemati- 
cally, without  injury  to  the  mines.  It  was 
no  less  essential  to  advance  and  perfect  the 
process  of  the  winning  of  the  diamond  from 
the  mass  of  extracted  blue  ground  with  corresponding  speed  and 
efficiency.  For  the  handling  of  the  mammoth  bulk  of  breccia, 
through  which  the  tiny,  precious  crystals  were  sprinkled  in  a 
proportion  so  infinitesimal,  there  was  a  practical  call  for  every 
feasible  stretch  of  invention  in  transportation,  concentration, 
assorting  of  sizes,  and  final  separation  of  the  gems.  The  indis- 
pensable reconciliation  of  thoroughness  in  extraction  with  rapidity 
in  working  over  the  ground  made  the  task  greatly  perplexing. 
It  was  only  through  years  of  experimenting  and  progressing  from 
imperfect  to  improved  designs  that  the  present  great  diamond- 
winning  plant  of  the  mines  was  evolved.  If  this  is  still  short 
of  ideal  suitability  to  the  work,  it  is  simply  fair  to  observe  how 
vast  is  the  stride  that  has  actually  been  made  in  a  few  recent 
years  in  diamond-winning  methods,  from  the  primitive  Indian 
wooden  shovels  and  drying  mats,  and  the  water  holes  and  shak- 
ing plates  of  the  Brazilian. 

As  fast  as  the  blue  ground  is  dumped  automatically  from  the 
skips  into  the  ore  bins,  it  is  carried  away  in  trucks  by  an  endless 
wire  rope  haulage,  driven  by  steam,  to  the  depositing  floors. 
These  floors  are  made  by  removing  the  bush  and  grass  from 
fairly  level  stretches  of  ground.  After  clearing  the  face  of  the 
ground,  it  is  hardened  and  smoothed  with  heavy  rollers  until  it 

360 


WINNING   THE   DIAMONDS 


361 


is  fit  for  use.  Receiving  grounds  are  laid  out  separately  for  each 
of  the  diamond  mines  on  the  four  farms,  and  cover  an  area  of 
several  thousand  acres.  The  most  extensive  of  any  are  the 
De  Beers  floors,  which  are  laid  off  in  rectangular  sections,  six 
hundred  yards  long  and  two  hundred  yards  wide,  on  the  farm, 
Kenilworth,  adjoining  the  mine.  They  begin  about  a  mile  from 
the  mines  and  extend  for  three  miles  in  the  easterly  direction  and 
a  mile  to  the  west. 

The    main    tramway   line  from  the    mine   is  three  miles  in 
length,  with  two  branches,  one  mile  and  three  quarters  of  a  mile 


De  Beers  Mine  and  Floors.     (Showing  Haulage  from  Mine  to  Floors.j 

in  length  respectively.  The  speed  of  the  running  trucks  ranges 
from  2.5  to  4  miles  an  hour,  and  they  are  counted  and  greased 
automatically  as  they  are  sent  on  to  the  floors.  There  is  a  slight 
down  grade  from  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines  which  is  of 
material  service  in  lightening  the  drag  of  the  loaded  trucks. 
When  the  trucks  reach  the  floors,  they  are  drawn  by  horses  or 
mules  over  auxiliary  tram  lines  at  right  angles  to  the  main  haul- 
age line  to  any  desired  point  of  deposit.  A  full  truck  contains 
about  1 6  cubic  feet  of  blue  ground,  weighing  1600  Ibs.  approxi- 
mately; but  it  was  found  more  convenient  to  supplant  these 
end-tipping  trucks  by  20  cubic  feet  side-tipping  trucks.  The 


362       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AERICA 


WINNING   THE   DIAMONDS 


364      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 


De  Beers  Floors. 

old  unit  of  measurement,  16  cubic  feet,  has  been  retained,  and 
the  automatic  counters  are  so  geared  that  every  time  four 
20-cubic-feet  trucks  pass  them,  five  truck-loads  are  registered. 
Each  of  the  rectangular  sections  of  the  De  Beers  floors  holds 
about  50,000  loads.  The  Kimberley  floors  are  nearly  as  large, 
and  substantially  the  same  method  is  employed  in  covering 
them.  On  the  depositing  ground  a  truck-load  is  spread  out  to 

I — '- 


Mechanical  Haulage,  Kimberley  Mine. 


WINNING   THE   DIAMONDS  365 

cover  about  2 1  square  feet.  So  over  the  miles  of  floor  surface  is 
outstretched  an  enormous  carpet  of  "  blue  "  somewhat  less  than 
a  foot  in  thickness,  and  sprinkled  with  invisible  diamonds.  It 
may  appear  to  the  reader  that  the  word  "invisible"  is  used  to 
convey  the  idea  that  the  diamonds  are  very  small,  but  such  is 
not  the  case,  for  many  of  the  diamonds  lying  buried  are  as  big 
as  filberts,  and  it  is  not  unusual  to  find  them  as  large  as  walnuts. 
What  is  meant  is  that  the  diamonds  contained  in  the  blue 
ground  are  invisible  to  one  walking  casually  over  the  floors  even 


De  Beers  Floors. 

after  the  ground  has  pulverized.  During  the  fifteen  years  of 
my  charge  of  De  Beers  mines  I  have  never  found  a  diamond  on 
the  floors. 

It  will  be  seen  that  no  pains  have  been  spared  to  hasten  and 
cheapen  the  flow  of  ground  to  the  floors.  After  the  blue 
ground  has  been  spread  out,  it  is  necessary  to  wait  patiently 
until  the  sun  and  the  rain  have  contributed  their  service  in  dis- 
integrating the  breccia.  The  effect  of  the  exposure  of  this  curi- 
ous compound  to  heat  and  moisture  is  very  remarkable.  Large 
pieces  of  blue,  which  are  as  hard  as  sandstone  when  freshly  taken 
from  the  mine,  soon  begin  to  crumble  on  the  depositing  floors. 
To  hasten  the  disintegration,  the  bed  of  blue  is  harrowed  several 


366      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

times  to  turn  up  the  bigger  lumps  and  expose  fresh  faces  of 
the  ground  to  the  sun.     Spans  of  mules  were  originally  used  to 


De  Beers  Floors. 


drag  the  light  harrows  used  in  those  days,  but  steam   traction 
engines  are  now  employed  to  draw  wheeled  harrows  with  huge 


Kimberley  Floors. 


teeth  to  and  fro  across  the  floors.  So  the  great  spread  of  the 
floors  looks  like  some  vast  ploughed  farm  where  the  laborers 
are  preparing  the  soil  for  seed. 


WINNING   THE   DIAMONDS 


367 


The  length  of  time  required  to  effect  the  desired  degree  of 
pulverization  depends  on  the  season  of  the  year  and  the  amount 


Harrowing  Blue  Ground  with  Steam  Traction  Engines. 

of  rainfall.  It  is  curious  to  note,  also,  that  there  is  a  marked 
difference  in  the  rapidity  of  disintegration  of  the  blue  ground  in 
each  of  the  four  mines.  The  blue  from  Kimberley  mine 
becomes  well  pulverized  in  three  months  with  heavy  rains  in 
the  summer  season,  while  the  De  Beers  blue  requires  double 
that  time.  The  longer  the  ex- 
posure, the  more  complete  the 
pulverization,  and  the  better 
for  washing.  The  long  con- 
tinuance of  droughts,  which 
are  of  frequent  occurrence, 
causes  very  costly  delay. 
During  a  period  of  more 
than  eight  months  in  1897 
there  was  not  sufficient  rain 
to  wet  the  blue  ground. 

_.        .  r        .  Harrowing  Blue  Ground. 

The  lack  or  rain  water  was 

offset,  in  a  measure,  by  artificial  means ;  but  as  the  blue  ground 

upon  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  floors  covers  2000  acres  of  land, 


368       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

the  difficulty  of  any  approach  to  complete  watering  may  be 
readily  imagined.  Under  normal  conditions  soft  blue  ground 
becomes  sufficiently  pulverized  in  from  four  to  six  months,  but 
it  is  better  to  expose  it  for  a  longer  period,  even  for  a  whole  year. 


Traction  Engine  for  Harrowing  Blue  Ground. 

A  certain  percentage  of  the  blue  ground  is  not  affected  by 
exposure  on  the  floors.  This  intractable  ground,  which  is  called 
hard  blue,  makes  up  about  5  per  cent  of  the  product  of  De 
Beers  mine.  The  large  pieces  of  hard  blue  are  removed  from 
the  floors  to  be  crushed  in  rock  breakers  and  rolls,  and  large, 
worthless  boulders  and  stones  embedded  in  the  blue,  as  well  as 
large  pieces  of  basalt  and  shale  which  fill  the  open  mines,  and 


WINNING   THE    DIAMONDS 


369 


have  become  mixed  with  the  blue  ground  during  the  process 
of  mining,  are  picked  out  to  be  thrown  away.     Then  the  well- 


disintegrated  blue  ground  is  taken  from  the  floors  in  trucks  by 
endless  rope  haulages  to  the  washing  machines  and  put  through 
the  first  stage  of  concentration. 

The  ground  is  dumped  from  the  trucks  into  hoppers,  at 
the  bottom  of  which  are  small  revolving  tables  upon  which  the 
ground  is  divided  and  fed  automatically  into  two  revolving 
cylinders.  This  automatic  feeder,  which  was  devised  by  Mr. 
Robeson,  late  mechanical  engineer  to  De  Beers  Company,  not 


Loading  Pulverized  Blue  Ground. 


only  divides  the  ground  equally  between  two  rotating  washing 
machines,  but  delivers  it  regularly,  so  that  the  machines  can- 
not become  overcharged,  which  would  result  in  loss  of  diamonds. 


2  B 


370       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Washing  Machine,  De  Beers  Mine. 

After  leaving  the  automatic  feeders,  the  ground  is  mixed  with 
puddle  (the  name  applied  to  the  thick  muddy  water  which  flows 
out  of  the  washing  pans)  and  a  quantity  of  clear  water  is  added. 


No.  2  Washing  Plant,  De  Beers  Floors. 


WINNING   THE    DIAMONDS 


This  mixture  serves  to  bring  the  fresh  supply  of  blue  ground  in 
the  pans  to  the  proper  consistency  for  washing,  for  experience 
proves  that  diamonds  and  the  heavy  minerals  with  them  separate 
from  the  mass  of  lighter  material  much  better  in  a  fairly  thick 
puddle  than  in  comparatively  clear  water.  From  the  chutes 
below  the  feeders  the  mixture  flows  into  a  revolving  cylinder 


covered  with  perforated  steel  plates  with  holes  i^  inches  in 
diameter.  All  lumps  larger  than  the  holes  pass  out  of  the  end 
of  the  cylinder,  and  are  carried  by  a  pan  conveyor  to  crushing 
rolls  for  further  treatment.  Worthless  stones  carried  in  the 
ground  are  picked  out  by  hand  as  the  lumps  move  along  on  the 
conveyor. 

The  pulverized  ground  which  passes  through  the  screen  holes 
of  the  cylinders  is  fed  into  shallow  circular  pans,  divided  so  as  to 
form  an  annular  space,  four  feet  in  diameter,  between  the  outer 
and  the  inner  rim  (see  figures  on  pages  372-373).  Here  the 
ground  is  swept  around  by  revolving  arms  attached  to  a  vertical 
shaft,  and  carrying  wedge-shaped  teeth  (see  figure).  These  teeth 
are  set  to  form  a  spiral  which  forces  the  diamonds  and  other 
heavy  minerals  to  the  outer  side  of  the  pan,  while  the  lighter 


372       THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

material    flows    out   of  the   discharge   situated   upon   the   inner 
rim.     Fifty  per  cent  of  De  Beers  ground,  when  well  pulver- 


DETAILS   OF   ROTARY 


ized,  will  pass  through  a  screen  with  holes  -^  of  an  inch 
square,  and  66  per  cent  of  Kimberley  ground  will  pass 
through  the  same  screen.  The  big  pieces  of  hard  rock,  which 
were  brought  out  of  the  mines  only  a  few  months  before,  have 
crumbled  almost  to  dust,  which,  during  every  working  day  in  the 
year,  passes  through  the  pans  in  a  flowing  stream  for  ten  hours  a 


WINNING   THE    DIAMONDS 


373 


day,  leaving  its  treasure  behind.  When  the  bare  statement  is 
made  that  nearly  five  million  truck-loads,  or  more  than  four  mill- 
ion tons  of  blue  ground,  have  been  washed  in  a  year,  the  mind 
only  faintly  conceives  the  prodigious  size  of  the  mass  that  is 
annually  drawn  from  the  old  craters  and  laboriously  washed  and 
sorted  for  the  sake  of  a  few  bucketfuls  of  diamonds.  It  would 
form  a  cube  of  more  than  430  feet,  or  a  block  larger  than  any 
cathedral  in  the  world,  and  overtopping  the  spire  of  St.  Paul's, 


WASHING   MACHINE. 


while  a  box  with   sides   measuring  two  feet  nine  inches  would 
hold  the  gems. 

When  the  day's  work  is  completed,  the  pans,  through  each 
of  which  three  hundred  loads  have  passed,  are  emptied  or 
"  cleaned  up,"  and  the  concentrated  deposits  of  diamonds, 
mingled  with  the  other  heavy  but  valueless  minerals,  are  then 


374       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

sent  to  the  Pulsator  in  trucks  with  locked  covers,  where  they  are 
sized  by  passing  through  a  cylinder  covered  with  steel  sieving  with 
holes  from  one-sixteenth  to  five-eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
The  five  sizes  which  pass  through  the  cylinder  flow  upon  a  com- 
bination of  jigs,  termed  at  the  mines  the  pulsators,  and  the  name 
Pulsator,  which  originally  applied  to  the  one  set  of  jigs  only  that 
did  all  the  work  for  the  De  Beers  Mining  Company  in  1886,  is 
still  applied  to  the  large  concentrating  plant  and  machinery  where 
the  final  concentration  is  done  and  the  diamonds  sorted  from  the 
worthless  minerals  with  which  they  are  associated. 


De  beers  Crushing  Mill,  Back  View. 

Before  tracing  the  diamonds  through  the  Pulsator,  it  is  desir- 
able for  the  sake  of  clearness  to  sketch  the  treatment  of  the  hard 
blue  ground  taken  direct  from  the  depositing  floors.  For  the 
handling  of  this  portion  of  the  product  of  the  mines  an  elaborate 
and  costly  plant  was  erected  on  one  of  the  old  tailing  heaps. 
The  driving  power  of  the  crushing  mill  is  a  compound  vertical 
engine  of  1 100  horse-power.  The  whole  plant  is  divided  into  four 
sections,  and  provided  with  friction  clutches  so  that  any  portion 
of  the  machinery  may  be  stopped  without  interfering  with  the 
running  of  the  rest  of  the  mill. 


WINNING   THE    DIAMONDS  375 

An  endless  wire  rope  haulage  carries  all  the  refractory  ground 
to  the  mill,  where  it  is  put  through  a  series  of  crushing  machin- 
ery. The  first  or  "  comet "  crushers  reduce  the  ground  so  that 
the  largest  pieces  will  pass  through  a  two-inch  ring.  From  these 
crushers  the  ground  passes  through  revolving  screens  which  sep- 
arate the  finely  crushed  from  the  coarse  pieces.  The  fine  size  is 
conveyed  to  the  washing  pan,  and  the  coarser  ground  passes  from 
the  end  of  the  screen  to  revolving  picking  tables,  where  diamonds 
of  the  larger  size  may  be  seen  and  removed  without  risk  of 
crushing  by  further  pulverization.  From  the  picking  tables  the 
ground  is  scraped  automatically  into  two  sets  of  rolls,  and  the 
pulverized  product  screened  again  and  graded  into  three  sizes. 
The  finest  size,  passing  a  half-inch  screen,  goes  to  the  washing 
pans,  and  the  two  coarser  sizes  to  jigs.  Large  diamonds  which 
have  been  separated  from  their  envelope  of  blue  are  retained  in 
the  jig.  The  ground  still  holding  the  smaller  diamonds  passes 
out  of  the  end  of  the  jig  and  then  through  a  series  of  rolls, 
screens,  and  jigs  until  the  finished  product  is  drawn  from  the  bot- 
tom jigs  into  locked  trucks  running  on  tramways  to  the  pulsator 
for  further  concentration  and  sorting. 

From  beginning  to  end  of  this  process  the  crushed  ground 
is  carried  by  water,  and  the  plant  requires  a  flow  of  400,000  gal- 
lons an  hour.  After  leaving  the  last  jig  the  water  is  separated 
from  the  fine  ground  by  a  revolving  screen  and  the  tailings  are 
taken  away  in  trucks  to  the  tailing  heap.  Within  the  past  three 
years  the  ordinary  rotary  pans  have  supplanted  the  jigs,  and  are 
found  to  be  more  economical. 

The  coarse  ground,  which  passes  out  of  the  end  of  the  revolv- 
ing cylinders  of  the  washing  plants,  is  called  "  lumps."  As  the 
lumps  leave  the  end  of  the  cylinders  they  fall  upon  a  conveyor 
and  are  taken  to  the  end  of  the  washing  machines,  where  they 
are  reduced  by  a  similar,  though  smaller,  crushing  plant,  with  the 
exception  that  pans  only  are  used  for  saving  the  diamonds. 

Thus  the  screened  and  sized  product  from  the  washing  pans 
and  the  crushing  machines  reaches  the  final  stage  of  concentra- 
tion in  the  Pulsator.  This  is  a  combination  of  jigs  with  station- 


376      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


The  Pulsator. 


ary  bottoms  covered  with  screens  with  square  meshes.  The 
meshes  are  a  little  coarser  than  the  perforated  plates  of  the 
cylinders  that  size  the  concentrate  for  the  jigs.  Upon  the  jig 
screens  a  layer  of  leaden  bullets  for  the  finer  sizes  and  iron  for 
the  coarser  sizes  is  spread,  forming  a  bed  that  prevents  the 
deposit  from  passing  through  the  screen  too  rapidly.  The 
heaviest  part  of  the  deposit  with  the  diamonds  passes  through 
the  screens  into  pointed  boxes,  from  which  the  deposit  is  drawn 
off  and  taken  to  the  sorting  tables.  The  lighter  material  or 
refuse  flows  over  the  ends  of  the  jigs  into  trucks,  which  are 
hauled  away  and  dumped  on  the  tailing  heap. 

Only  one  per  cent  of  the  total  amount  of  ground  washed,  or 
one  in  a  hundred  loads,  goes  to  the  Pulsator  in  the  form  of  con- 
centrate. Eight  and  a  half  per  cent  of  this  passes  through  the 
screens  below  the  five-eighth  inch  size,  thirty-three  and  a  half 
per  cent  is  above  that  size,  and  the  balance,  fifty-eight  per  cent, 
flows  over  the  jigs  as  waste.  Formerly,  for  every  hundred  loads 
washed,  five-twelfths  of  a  load  passed  over  the  sorting  tables, 


WINNING   THE   DIAMONDS  377 

ordinary  wooden  tables  covered  with  steel  plates.  Here  the  dia- 
monds were  picked  out  by  hand,  first  by  white  men  while  the 
deposit  was  wet,  and  later,  when  dry,  by  native  convicts.  The 
concentrate  was  worked  over  as  long  as  the  cost  of  handling  was 
repaid  by  the  gleaning  of  diamonds.  The  size  of  the  stones 
which  reached  the  sorting  tables  ranged  from  one-sixteenth  of  an 
inch  to  one  and  one-eighth  inches. 


Sorting  Gravel  for  Diamonds. 

Mixed  with  the  diamonds  in  the  concentrates  are  a  number 
of  other  minerals  of  high  specific  gravity,  and  some  of  notable 
beauty  though  they  have  no  marketable  value.  Among  these 
are  the  rich  red  pyrope,  the  flesh-colored  zircon,  the  blue 
disthene,  bright  green  chrome  diopside,  pale  green  rhombic 
pyroxene,  and  olivine  occasionally  in  large,  polished  pebbles. 
Some  of  the  garnets  are  of  fine  quality,  and  one  was  recently 
cut  which  resembled  a  pigeon-blood  ruby,  and  attracted  an 
offer  of  ^25.  The  complete  list  of  minerals  found  on  the 
sorting  tables  includes:  (i)  pyrope,  having  a  specific  gravity 


378      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

of  3.7  and  containing  from  1.4  to  3  per  cent  of  oxide  of 
chrome;  (2)  zircon  (specific  gravity  4.41  to  4.7),  in  flesh-colored 
grains  and  fragments,  but  no  crystals  —  this  mineral  is  com- 
monly known  on  the  Diamond  Fields  as  Dutch  boart ;  (3)  dis- 
thene,  or  cyanite  (specific  gravity  3.45  to  3.7),  discernible  by  its 
blue  color  and  perfect  cleavage ;  (4)  chrome  diopside  (specific 
gravity  3.25  to  3.5),  in  fragments  bright  green  in  color  and  con- 
taining, according  to  Knopp,  over  two  per  cent  oxide  of  chrome  ; 
(5)  enstatite  or  bronzite  with  pale  green  rhombic  pyroxene  (spe- 
cific gravity  3.1  to  3.3);  (6)  mica  (specific  gravity  2.7  to  3.1); 
(7)  magnetite  (specific  gravity  4.49  to  5.2),  occasionally  found  in 
octahedron  crystals;  (8)  non-magnetic  iron  ore  (specific  gravity  4.5) 
containing  chrome  and  titanium  in  varying  quantities ;  that  is  to 
say,  sometimes  it  is  chrome  iron,  and  sometimes  titanium  iron 
ore  :  according  to  analysis  by  Knopp,  it  contains  from  13  to  61 
per  cent  of  oxide  of  chrome  and  from  3  to  68  per  cent  of  titanic 
acid;  (9)  hornblende  (specific  gravity  2.9  to  3.4);  (10)  barite 
(specific  gravity  4.29  to  4.3) ;  (n)  calcite  (specific  gravity  2.7) ; 
(12)  pyrite  (specific  gravity  4.83  to  5.2);  (13)  olivine  (specific 
gravity  3.3). 

The  work  of  picking  out  the  diamonds  by  hand  from  the 
concentrate  on  the  sorting  tables  was,  of  course,  necessarily  slow 
and  tedious.  It  was  the  only  division  of  diamond  mining  and 
winning  which  seemed  beyond  the  application  of  blind  and 
unconscious  machinery.  But  men  to-day  are  not  inclined  to 
admit  that  anything  greatly  worth  doing  is  impossible. 

A  series  of  experiments  was  initiated  by  me  with  the  object 
of  separating  the  diamonds  from  the  heavy  valueless  concen- 
trates with  which  they  are  associated.  An  ordinary  shaking  or 
percussion  table  was  constructed,  and  every  known  means  of 
separation  was  tried  without  success.  One  of  the  employes  of 
De  Beers,  Mr.  Fred  Kirsten,  was  in  charge  of  the  experimenting, 
under  the  supervision  of  the  late  Mr.  George  Labram,  the  man- 
ager of  the  large  crushing  plant,  and  afterward  mechanical  engi- 
neer to  the  company.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  diamond  (3.52)  was  less  than  that  of  several  of 


WINNING   THE    DIAMONDS 


379 


the  minerals  associated  with  it,  so  that  its  separation  would  seem 
a  simple  matter,  it  was  found  in  practice  to  be  impossible  owing 
to  the  slippery  nature  of  the  diamond.  The  heavy  concentrates 
carried  diamonds,  and  diamonds  flowed  away  from  the  percus- 
sion table  with  the  tailings.  When  it  seemed  that  every  resource 
to  do  away  with  hand  sorting  had  been  exhausted,  Kirsten  asked 
to  be  allowed  to  try  to  catch  the  diamonds  by  placing  a  coat  of 
thick  grease  on  the  surface  of  the  percussion  table  with  which  the 


Automatic  Diamond  Sorter,  called  the  Greaser. 

other  experiments  had  been  made.  Kirsten  had  noticed  that  oily 
substances,  such  as  axle  grease  and  white  or  red  lead,  adhered  to 
diamonds  when  they  chanced  to  come  into  contact,  and  he  argued 
to  himself,  if  these  substances  adhered  to  diamonds  and  not  to  the 
other  minerals  in  the  concentrates,  why  should  not  diamonds  adhere 
to  grease  on  the  table  and  the  other  minerals  flow  away  ?  In 
this  way  the  remarkable  discovery  was  made  that  diamonds  alone 
of  all  minerals  contained  in  the  blue  ground  will  adhere  to  grease, 
and  that  all  others  will  flow  away  as  tailings  over  the  end  of  the 
percussion-  table  with  the  water.  After  this  was  determined  by 


380      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

thorough  experiments,  more  suitable  shaking  tables  were  con- 
structed at  the  Company's  workshops.  These  were  from  time 
to  time  improved  upon,  until  now  all  the  sorting  (except  for  the 
very  coarse  size)  is  done  by  these  machines,  whose  power  of  dis- 
tinction is  far  superior  to  the  keenest  eye  of  the  native.  Since 
the  discovery  of  the  affinity  of  grease  for  diamonds,  experiments 
have  been  made  with  rubies  and  sapphires  from  Burma,  and  it 
was  found  that  grease  caught  these  gems  with  the  same  certainty 
that  it  catches  diamonds. 

After  a  thorough  trial  a  number  of  these  unique  diamond- 
catching  tables  (see  cut,  p.  379)  were  constructed,  and  are  now 
working  on  De  Beers  concentrates.  Each  shaking  table  is 
made  of  corrugated  cast-iron  plates  in  five  sections,  with  a  drop 
of  about  an  inch  from  one  division  to  another.  Thick  grease  is 
spread  on  the  plates  to  cover  them  to  the  top  of  the  corrugations. 

The  concentrates  are  conveyed  from  the  jigs  upon  a  con- 
veyor belt  and  deposited  into  hoppers,  where  the  load  is  elevated 
to  revolving  cylinders  covered  with  perforated  steel  plates. 
Through  the  graded  screens  of  these  cylinders  the  concentrates 
pass  into  small  hoppers,  one  above  each  table,  fitted  with  auto- 
matic feeders,  —  cast-iron  cylinders  with  grooves  corresponding 
to  the  graded  sizes  of  the  concentrates,  —  and  are  distributed 
evenly  across  the  upper  portion  of  the  shaking  tables,  and  car- 
ried down  by  a  flow  of  water  from  a  trough  fixed  behind  the 
feeders.  During  the  time  the  table  is  working  it  is  rapidly 
shaken  from  side  to  side  by  an  eccentric  placed  on  a  shaft  under 
the  table. 

Strange  to  relate,  the  descending  diamonds  stick  on  the  face 
of  the  grease  while  all  other  minerals  pass  over  it.  Only  about 
one-third  of  one  per  cent  of  diamonds  is  lost  by  the  first  table, 
and  these  are  recovered  almost  to  a  stone  when  the  concentrates 
are  passed  over  the  second  table.  The  discrimination  of  this 
sorter  is  surely  marvellous.  Native  workers,  although  experi- 
enced in  the  handling  of  diamonds,  often  pick  out  small  crystals 
of  zircon,  or  Dutch  boart,  by  mistake,  but  the  senseless  machine 
is  practically  unerring.  It  will  catch  rubies,  sapphires,  and  emer- 


WINNING   THE    DIAMONDS  381 

aids  as  well  as  diamonds,  but  so  far  as  it  has  been  tested,  it  will 
not  cling  to  anything  but  a  precious  stone.  The  grease  which 
is  used  loses  its  power  to  catch  diamonds  after  a  few  hours'  work, 
owing  to  its  becoming  more  or  less  mixed  with  particles  of 
water.  It  is  then  scraped  off  the  tables,  together  with  the  dia- 
monds adhering  to  it,  placed  in  a  kettle  made  of  finely  perfor- 
ated steel  plates,  and  steamed.  The  grease  passes  away  to  tanks 
of  water,  where  it  is  cooled  and  is  again  fit  for  use.  The  dia- 
monds, together  with  small  bits  of  iron  pyrites,  brass  nails  from 


The  Manager  of  the  Pulsator,  Mr.  James  Stewart,  through  whose  Hands  ^3,000,000  to 
,£4,000,000  Worth  of  Diamonds  pass  every  Year. 

the  miners'  boots,  pieces  of  copper  from  the  detonator  used  in 
blasting,  which  remain  on  the  tables  owing  to  their  high  specific 
gravity,  and  a  very  small  admixture  of  worthless  deposit  which 
has  become  mechanically  mixed  with  the  grease,  are  then  boiled 
in  a  solution  containing  caustic  soda,  where  they  are  freed  from 
all  grease.  The  quantity  of  deposit,  from  the  size  of  five-eighths 
of  an  inch  downwards,  which  now  reaches  the  sorting  table,  does 
not  exceed  one  cubic  foot  for  every  12,000  loads  (192,000  cubic 
feet)  of  blue  ground  washed.  As  already  stated,  one-twelfth  of 
one  per  cent  of  the  whole  mass  of  blue  formerly  passed  to  the 


382      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   Of   SOUTH    AFRICA 


WINNING   THE   DIAMONDS  383 

sorting  tables;  or,  from  12,000  loads,  which  is  about  the  daily 
average  of  the  quantity  washed  at  De  Beers  and  Kimberley 
mines,  160  cubic  feet  had  to  be  assorted  by  hand. 

The  first  question  usually  asked  by  visitors  is,  What  is  the 
cause  of  this  amazing  discrimination  ?  This  is  a  very  difficult 
question  to  answer  with  positive  assurance.  It  is  possible  that 
the  secret  of  the  affinity  may  lie  in  the  fact  that  water  adheres 
to  or  enters  into  all  minerals  composing  the  concentrate  except 
precious  stones.  These  present  comparatively  dry  faces  to  the 
grease  and  quickly  adhere  to  it,  while  the  wet  stones  flow  over 
the  table.  The  grease  has  no  affinity  for  a  piece  of  glass,  which, 
when  dropped  on  the  table,  flows  away  in  the  tailings. 

From  the  sorting  tables  the  diamonds  are  taken  daily  to  the 
general  office  under  an  armed  escort  and  delivered  to  the  valua- 
tors in  charge  of  the  diamond  department.  These  experts  clean 
the  diamonds  of  any  extraneous  matter,  such  as  small  particles 
of  adhering  blue  ground,  by  boiling  them  in  a  mixture  of  nitric 
and  hydrochloric  acids  (aqua  regia),  or,  still  better,  in  fluoric 
acid.  When  the  stones  are  cleaned,  they  are  carefully  assorted 
with  reference  to  size,  color,  and  purity,  and  made  up  in  parcels 
for  sale,  formerly  to  local  buyers,  who  represented  the  leading 
diamond  merchants  of  the  world.  For  several  years  past  De 
Beers  Company  has  sold  in  advance  its  annual  production  to  a 
syndicate  of  London  diamond  merchants  who  have  representa- 
tives residing  in  Kimberley. 


A  Day's  Diamond  Wash. 


CHAPTER   XIII 


OBSTACLES    AND    PERILS 


N  the  open  workings  the  imminent  hazard  of 
maiming  and  death  by  reef  slides  was  ever 
hanging  over  the  heads  of  the  miners.  In 
view  of  the  rashness  with  which  the  pit  sink- 
ing was  pressed,  it  was  a  marvel,  indeed,  that 
the  actual  loss  of  life  was,  on  the  whole,  so 
small.  No  complete  or  accurate  records  were  ever  kept  of  the 
men  injured  or  killed  in  prosecuting  the  work  before  the  advent 
of  systematic  mining. 

In  the  journals  of  the  Diamond  Fields  the  most  noteworthy 
casualties  were  recorded,  and  it  is  seen  that  in  the  years  immedi- 
ately following  the  undertaking  of  underground  mining,  the 
principal  loss  of  life  occurred  from  the  falls  of  loosened  pieces 
of  blue  ground  or  reef.  This  is  expressly  noted  in  the  report 
of  the  Inspector  of  Mines  at  Kimberley  to  the  Assistant  Com- 
missioner of  Crown  Lands  on  August  27,  1885.  Underground 
mining  operations  in  Kimberley  and  De  Beers  mines  were  then, 
he  observed,  becoming  very  hazardous.  In  both  mines,  but 
especially  in  the  Kimberley  mine,  "  some  of  the  underground 
working  places  in  diamantiferous  ground  are  huge  caverns  of 
from  25  to  52  feet  in  height  and  20  to  30  feet  in  width.  The 
roofs  of  these  workings,  from  exposure  to  atmosphere,  shocks 
of  blasting,  and  inherent  weakness  of  the  blue  or  diamantiferous 
ground,  are  becoming  extremely  unsafe ;  occasionally  pieces  of 
the  ground  or  rock  fall  from  the  high  roof  or  sides,  to  the  immi- 
nent danger  of  persons  working  on  the  floors.  During  the  last 
and  current  months  there  have  been  three  deaths  in  under- 
ground working  places  directly  due  to  the  dangerous  operations 

384 


OBSTACLES   AND    PERILS  385 

in  the  mines,"  and  in  view  of  this  danger  and  loss  of  life,  the 
inspector  urgently  recommended  the  limitation  by  the  govern- 
ment of  the  height  and  width  of  the  underground  workings. 

"  Main  tunnels  to  be  used  only  for  traffic  not  to  exceed  8 
feet  in  width  and  8  feet  in  height. 

"  Working  chambers  or  stalls  from  which  the  blue  or  dia- 
mantiferous  ground  is  excavated  in  bulk,  not  to  exceed  18  feet 
in  width  by  20  feet  in  height  to  the  highest  point. 

"  Partitions  or  pillars  not  to  be  of  less  thickness  than  half 
the  width  of  the  contiguous  chambers  or  stalls. 

"The  roof  of  ceiling  between  one  level  and  the  next  above 
to  be  not  less  than  20  feet  in  thickness  at  the  highest  point  of 
the  lower  workings." 

This  recommendation  had  in  view  obviously  the  precautions 
enforced  in  the  working  of  coal  mines,  and  would  doubtless 
have  afforded  an  increased  measure  of  protection,  but  the 
method  of  working  proposed  was  not  well  suited  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  diamond-bearing  ground,  as  was  later  conclusively 
determined.  The  slaking  and  crumbling  of  the  diamond-bear- 
ing breccia  upon  exposure  to  air  and  moisture  make  roof  falls 
and  slips  from  the  sides  especially  frequent  and  disastrous. 
The  ground  is  full  of  soapy  seams,  and  pieces  of  considerable 
size  drop  without  a  moment's  warning,  so  that  it  is  necessary, 
in  places,  to  keep  the  tunnels  timbered  as  near  the  working  face 
as  possible.  Risk  from  this  cause  cannot  be  wholly  obviated  in 
such  mining,  but  the  introduction  of  the  new  system  adopted 
for  the  working  of  the  mines,  shortly  after  they  came  under  my 
management,  has  greatly  diminished  this  peril,  and  the  resultant 
loss  of  life  or  injury  to  the  workmen.  By  the  new  system  the 
levels  are  worked  back  from  the  surrounding  hard  rock  or  reef 
in  sections,  formerly  30  feet,  now  40  feet  apart,  as  before  partic- 
ularly described,  in  a  series  of  terraces,  extracting  the  ground 
from  the  uppermost  level  downward  in  succession.  This 
method  did  away  with  any  danger  of  collapse  in  the  under- 
ground works,  and  by  successively  robbing  out  the  roof  and 
sides  of  the  tunnels  on  each  descending  terrace,  the  caving  of 
z  c 


386      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

the  unstable  ground  was  systematically  anticipated  and  restricted. 
No  feasible  care  in  the  direction  of  men  working  in  such  shifting 
ground  can  entirely  do  away  with  casualties.  Some  are  scarcely 
to  be  avoided,  but  most  are  attributable,  more  or  less,  to  the 
miners'  heedless  disregard  of  the  warnings  of  overseers  and 
proper  precautions. 

There  was  another  serious  risk  in  mining  in  the  upper 
levels  of  the  mines,  where  shale  is  heavily  impregnated  with 
bituminous  matter,  and  no  device  could  wholly  prevent  the 
gathering  of  carburetted  hydrogen,  which,  mingling  with  air, 
forms  the  "  fire  damp  "  that  has  been  so  deadly  a  peril  to  miners. 
When  sinking  shafts  or  driving  tunnels  in  the  shale,  miners  are 
prohibited  by  the  strictest  injunction  of  the  management,  and 
the  formal  regulations  of  the  Government  Inspector  of  Mines, 
from  carrying  any  lighted  candle  into  passages  where  there  is 
any  possibility  of  this  gas  having  gathered;  but  no  prohibition 
has  ever  been  able  to  prevent  an  occasional  stretch  of  reckless- 
ness on  the  part  of  some  careless  miner.  Locked  safety  lamps 
are  provided  abundantly  for  testing  the  atmosphere  in  such 
parts  of  the  mine  workings,  but  neglect  of  this  precaution  has 
caused  startling  explosions,  scorching  and  striking  men  down, 
and  in  a  few  cases  causing  death.  In  1883  there  was  a  slight 
explosion  of  accumulated  gas  in  the  reef  workings  of  the 
French  Company,  Kimberley  mine.  Here  thin  bands  of  coal 
had  been  struck  in  the  black  shale,  and  in  an  upward  drive 
to  meet  a  pass,  some  gas  had  collected  in  the  interval  from 
Saturday  to  Monday.  A  naked  flame  set  fire  to  this  gas  and 
caused  the  explosion.  Prior  to  this  time  two  other  cases  were 
on  record,  in  both  of  which  workmen  were  severely  injured. 
Perhaps  the  most  notable  instance  of  the  gathering  of  this  gas 
was  in  a  heading  of  the  workings  of  the  Gem  Company  in  De 
Beers  mine  in  July,  1885.  One  of  the  workmen  had  his  face 
and  hands  badly  scorched  by  an  explosion  at  the  end  of  the 
heading,  and  a  second  explosion  occurred  shortly  afterward, 
when  the  managing  director  and  an  overseer  attempted  to  exam- 
ine the  heading,  taking  candles  to  light  their  way.  The  director, 


OBSTACLES   AND    PERILS  387 

Mr.  George  McFarland,  was  severely  burned  by  this  blast  of 
gas,  which  was  described  as  a  "fizz"  almost  noiseless.  Since 
the  workings  have  been  carried  down  below  the  level  of  the 
shale,  there  has  been  no  danger  from  fire  damp,  and  the  acci- 
dents from  this  cause  have  ceased  to  occur  in  the  deeper  mines. 

The  strictest  precautions  are  enjoined  in  the  storing  and 
handling  of  explosives  used  in  the  diamond  mines,  and  the 
need  of  such  stringency  was  signally  emphasized  in  the  destruc- 
tive explosion  that  wrecked  a  dozen  magazines  near  the  com- 
pound of  the  Victoria  Mining  Company  on  October  31,  1884, 
three  years  before  I  took  the  management  of  De  Beers.  The 
shock  was  felt  from  Dutoitspan  to  the  farthest  limits  of  the  west 
end  of  the  camps,  and  terror-stricken  people  rushed  out  of  their 
houses  to  see  a  vast  heaving  cloud  of  smoke  rising  hundreds  of 
feet  into  the  sky. 

The  magazines  were  dashed  to  pieces,  as  the  Kimberley 
papers  reported,  by  the  terrible  power  of  the  explosives.  In 
most  instances  the  galvanized  iron  was  broken  into  tiny  atoms 
as  if  by  myriad  hammers,  and  cartridges  were  scattered  far  and 
wide  through  the  debris,  exploding  in  volleys  or  scattering  blasts 
for  many  minutes  after  the  explosion.  One  large  stone  was 
thrown  as  far  as  the  Central  Company's  offices,  a  distance  of 
two  miles,  and  smaller  ones  to  the  West  End,  three  miles  from 
the  magazines.  In  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  camp  there 
was  a  startling  breakage  of  windows,  lamps,  and  chandeliers,  and 
the  hotel  bars  and  canteens  were  so  heavily  pelted  that  "  the 
floors  were  swimming  with  what  we  might  call  dynamite  cock- 
tail, composed  of  every  liquor  under  heaven  from  Cape  Smoke 
to  Heidseck  and  Pommery."  Witnesses  of  the  explosion  thought 
that  hundreds  had  been  killed  and  injured,  but  almost  miracu- 
lously, as  it  seemed,  only  two  persons  were  killed,  one  a  white, 
the  other  a  black,  both  bodies  being  horribly  mutilated.  A 
third  sufferer  was  taken  up  and  tenderly  cared  for,  a  poor  native 
deeply  gashed  and  with  broken  ribs. 

No  other  accidents  in  the  mines  have  ever  approached  in 
loss  to  life  the  terrible  disaster  from  the  outbreak  of  fire  in  De 


388      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Beers  mine  in  July,  1888.  When  the  Consolidated  Mines  took 
over  the  property  of  De  Beers  Mining  Company,  nearly  all  the 
blue  ground  was  hoisted  from  the  foo-foot  level,  through  the 
first  large  working  shaft  constructed,  known  as  No.  i  west  end 
incline.  In  July,  1888,  another  shaft,  No.  2  incline,  had  just 
been  completed  to  the  yoo-foot  level,  and  skips  in  the  y-foot 
compartment  were  used  in  hoisting  the  ground  broken  on  this 
level.  In  addition  to  these  working  shafts  a  small  vertical  pros- 
pecting winze,  called  the  Friggin's  shaft,  had  been  sunk  from 
the  foo-foot  to  the  yoo-foot  level.  When  a  tunnel  connec- 
tion was  opened  between  No.  i  and  No.  2  inclines  on  the  yoo- 
foot  level,  the  prospecting  winze 
was  no  longer  needed,  and  it 
stood  abandoned  except  as  a 
ladderway.  There  was  a  small 
disused  engine  room  on  the  500- 
foot  level  a  short  distance  from 
the  winze.  With  the  sinking 
and  connection  of  both  working 
shafts  on  the  yoo-foot  level,  the 
output  of  the  mine  increased 
until  a  total  of  104,089  loads 
was  attained  during  the  month 
of  June,  1888. 

On  the  9th  July  following, 
large  skips  in  No.  2  incline  be- 
gan carrying  blue  ground  from 
the  yoo-foot  level,  and  continued  hauling  until  the  morning  of 
the  nth,  when  one  of  them  jumped  the  rails,  either  because  the 
hoisting  was  being  done  at  too  rapid  a  pace,  or  from  some 
obstruction  in  the  shaft.  Examination  showed  that  both  skips 
were  off  the  rails,  and  that  the  shaft  timbers  had  been  consider- 
ably damaged.  In  bringing  up  one  of  the  small  skips  in  the 
manway,  this  was  also  derailed  by  the  debris  in  the  shaft.  The 
necessary  work  of  repair  was  begun  at  once  and  continued  during 
the  day.  During  the  changing  of  the  shifts  in  the  evening,  the 


Mr.  Lindsay,  Mine  Manager,  killed  in 
De  Beers  Mine  Fire,  July  II,  1888. 


OBSTACLES   AND    PERILS 


389 


mine  manager,  Mr.  Lindsay,  reported  that  the  work  was  pro- 
gressing as  fast  as  practicable  and  that  the  shaft  would  be  in  run- 
ning order  within  a  few  hours. 

At  about  half-past  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  Lindsay  and 
six  miners  went  down  the  shafts  in  one  of  the  small  skips. 
A  few  minutes  later  an  alarm  of  fire  was  given  just  as  I  was 
about  to  drive  to  my  home  from  the  works.  It  was  reported 
to  me  through  the  telephone  that  the  Friggin's  shaft  was  on 
fire.  It  is  probable  that  one  of  the  native  miners  had  sneaked 


Fire  in  De  Beers  Mine,  July  II,  1888. 

off  to  the  disused  engine  room  on  the  5oo-foot  level,  and  placed 
a  lighted  candle  so  carelessly  that  the  flame  ignited  the  timbers, 
perhaps  while  the  lazy  savage  was  snoring  on  the  floor.  The 
precise  cause  of  the  fire  was,  however,  never  determined,  but 
from  the  time  of  its  starting,  it  spread  with  such  swiftness  that 
it  could  not  be  stifled. 

Within  a  few  minutes  after  the  outbreak  of  the  fire  both  of 
the  incline  shafts  were  filled  with  dense  smoke,  as  both  shafts 
were  upcasts,  and  the  passage  of  any  of  the  men  through  these 
exits  from  the  mine  workings  was  hopelessly  shut  off.  When 
the  alarm  was  given,  there  were  685  men  at  work  in  the  levels 
below  the  fire,  and  our  anxiety  for  their  safety  may  be  readily 
conceived.  At  the  first  warning  of  danger  two  men  were  sent 


390      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 

down  No.  2  incline  to  notify  Lindsay  and  his  companions 
of  the  outbreak  of  the  fire,  but  the  smoke  came  up  through 
the  shafts  so  heavily  that  both  were  driven  back  gasping  for 
breath,  and  barely  reached  the  surface  before  they  fell  on  the 
floor  completely  exhausted.  For  several  minutes  there  was  a 
tension  of  waiting  for  some  signal  to  hoist  from  Lindsay,  or  one 
of  his  party,  but  none  was  given.  Lindsay  and  his  comrades 
must  have  been  close  to  the  skip  in  the  shaft  when  the  fire 
started,  and  a  signal  bell  wire  ran  through  the  shaft  close  at 
hand.  There  was  time  enough  for  one  of  the  party  who  went 
down  the  shaft  in  the  skip  with  Lindsay  to  climb  up  the 
shaft  by  means  of  the  timbers,  a  distance  of  150  feet,  and  in 
view  of  this,  the  failure  of  these  men  to  get  into  the  skip  and 
ring  a  signal  to  hoist  is  inexplicable.  Seeing  at  once  that  ascent 
through  No.  2  incline  was  probably  hopelessly  blocked  by  the 
outpouring  smoke,  I  hastened  to  the  mouth  of  the  other  shaft 
(No.  i  incline  shaft).  The  smoke  was  also  streaming  out  of 
this  shaft  in  dense  volumes. 

The  signal  to  hoist  men  by  ringing  three  bells  was  repeatedly 
given,  but  I  hesitated  to  give  the  order  to  hoist  the  skip,  which 
was  at  the  6oo-foot  level,  as  the  risk  of  hoisting  a  skip-load  of 
men  through  the  stifling  smoke  was  appalling.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  impossible  to  know  at  the  surface  in  what  desperate 
straits  the  men  might  be  on  the  6oo-foot  level.  So,  before  giv- 
ing the  signal  to  hoist,  I  took  measures  to  revive  the  men  who 
would  be  overcome  by  the  smoke  in  ascending  the  shaft,  and 
water  was  provided  to  dash  on  them  if  they  came  up  with  their 
clothes  on  fire.  It  was  a  moment  when  no  balancing  of  proba- 
bilities could  determine  the  decision.  There  was  a  desperate 
chance  of  safety  in  the  swift  pulling  up  of  the  skip.  I  could 
not  let  the  piteous  appeals  go  on  apparently  unheeded.  I  gave 
the  signal  to  hoist  at  top  speed  in  response  to  the  last  pleading 
signal.  When  the  skip  was  about  300  feet  from  the  surface,  the 
wire  winding  rope  parted.  The  broken  end  came  whizzing  up 
through  the  shaft,  but  the  skip  with  its  load  of  four  poor  victims 
fell  crashing  down  to  the  sump  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  a 


OBSTACLES   AND    PERILS  391 

little  below  the  6oo-foot  level.  When  the  rope  was  examined,  it 
was  found  that  the  flames  from  the  burning  timbers  had  made 
it  so  hot  that  the  tension  of  the  skip  drew  out  the  wires  to  fine 
needle  points  which  snapped  under  the  strain.  When  the  first 
signal  to  hoist  was  given,  there  were  ten  or  twelve  men  in  the 
skip,  but  the  majority  left  it  when  the  signal  to  hoist  met  with 
no  response.  It  was  impossible  for  the  men  at  the  6oo-foot 
level  to  know  that  the  shaft  through  which  they  wished  to  be 
hoisted  was  on  fire  a  hundred  feet  above  them,  nor  could  we  on 
the  surface  know  what  was  happening  500  feet  below. 

The  mine  was  ventilated  at  the  time  through  an  outlet  into 
the  old  open  workings,  and  through  the  Gem  shaft  on  the  east 
side  of  the  mine.  The  Gem  shaft  was  a  small,  old  working 
shaft  that  had  been  sunk  from  a  terrace  in  the  blue  ground. 
Unfortunately  it  had  been  partially  closed  by  a  recent  ground 
slide  in  that  part  of  the  mine.  It  was,  however,  still  sufficiently 
open  to  be  of  invaluable  ventilating  service  at  this  crisis,  and  it 
could  have  been  opened  for  the  rescue  of  the  men  in  the  mine 
if  there  had  been  no  other  means  of  escape  through  the  outlet 
into  the  open  workings.  During  the  hours  of  fearful  anxiety 
that  followed  the  closing  of  the  two  main  shafts,  the  outlet  from 
the  mine  to  the  open  workings  was  intently  watched,  and  daring 
parties  penetrated  far  within  it  in  the  hope  of  communicating 
with  miners  escaping  from  the  range  of  the  fire.  Almost  all  of 
the  men  in  the  mine  were  well  acquainted  with  this  passage  to 
the  surface,  and  it  was  confidently  hoped  that  many,  at  least, 
would  contrive  to  grope  their  way  upward  through  this  outlet 
to  safety.  Fortunately  the  air  draught  through  this  passage 
was  downcast,  and  the  inrush  of  air  cleared  the  passage  from 
smoke. 

To  the  immeasurable  relief  of  all,  so  anxiously  expectant, 
one  white  man  and  six  native  miners  came  climbing  through 
this  passage  into  the  open  workings  at  about  ten  o'clock  on  the 
night  of  the  fire.  This  showed  that  a  practicable  way  of  escape 
from  the  mines  was  open,  but  many  hours  of  fearful  suspense 
followed  throughout  that  night  and  the  following  day,  while  the 


392      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

miners  were  groping  their  way  to  the  surface  through  the  same 
opening.  Forty-two  white  men  and  441  native  miners  were 
thus  rescued,  but  24  whites  and  178  natives  lost  their  lives 
in  levels  and  passageways  charged  with  deadly  smoke.  The 
downcast  draught  through  the  Gem  shaft  was  the  salvation  of 
the  greater  part  of  the  rescued  men,  who  spent  this  fearful  night 
on  the  level  close  to  this  shaft,  which  was  free  from  smoke. 
During  the  afternoon  of  the  following  day,  July  12,  a  party  of 
heroic  men  penetrated  far  into  the  mine  through  the  entrance 


No.  2  Incline  Shaft,  looking  East. 

in  the  open  workings,  and  rescued  a  number  of  natives  who 
were  cowering  stupefied  by  the  smoke,  or  paralyzed  by  fear.  In 
this  rescuing  party  were  some  who  had  passed  the  night  in  this 
frightful  prison,  but  who  were,  nevertheless,  among  the  first  to 
volunteer  to  go  down  again  in  the  desperately  hazardous  venture 
to  save  their  comrades. 

No.  i  incline  was  completely  burned  out  and  caved  in  during 
the  night  of  the  fire.  During  the  night  of  the  I2th  No.  2 
incline  caved  in  also  for  a  distance  of  about  40  feet,  near  the 
junction  of  the  shale  with  the  hard  rock,  shutting  off"  all  com- 
munication with  the  mine.  Before  the  latter  shaft  could  be 


.4* 


OBSTACLES   AND   PERILS 


393 


394      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

reopened,  the  water  in  the  mine  rose  to  a  depth  of  20  feet,  filling 
all  the  tunnels  on  the  yoo-foot  level. 

Several  days  after  the  fire  I  went  down  the  shaft  accompanied 
by  Captain  Hambley,  Assistant  Inspector  of  Mines,  and  one  of 
the  overmen.  I  arranged  to  lower  the  skip  gradually  down  the 
incline  to  make  the  first  inspection.  As  we  went  down,  an 
insulated  signal  wire  was  lowered,  and  provision  was  made  so 
that  I  could  keep  the  bell  ringing  continually,  and  instructions 
were  given  to  haul  up  the  skip  at  the  moment  the  ringing 
stopped,  for  I  feared  that  we  might  drop  into  foul  air  so  sud- 
denly that  we  would  not  be  able  to  signal  in  the  usual  manner. 
So  we  went  down  in  the  skip  slowly  to  a  point  about  150  feet 
above  the  crushed  ground  in  the  shaft.  At  this  point,  some  250 
feet  below  the  surface,  we  saw  the  body  of  one  of  the  men  who 
went  down  with  Mr.  Lindsay  just  before  the  breaking  out  of 
the  fire.  We  did  not  stop,  for  the  moment,  but  kept  on  signalling 
until  the  skip  was  lowered  to  the  ground  which  closed  the  shaft. 
Our  search  for  any  further  trace  of  the  lost  miners  was  fruitless, 
for  we  could  find  no  more  bodies.  Mr.  Lindsay  and  his  remain- 
ing companions  were  buried  beneath  the  debris  when  this  part  of 
the  shaft  caved  in.  Finding  that  the  further  descent  of  the  skip 
was  cut  off,  I  then  gave  the  signal  to  hoist,  and  on  reaching  the 
surface,  gave  instructions  for  men  to  go  down  and  remove 
the  body  seen  in  the  shaft.  The  poor  man  had  climbed  up  to 
the  point  where  he  died,  in  a  desperate  effort  to  escape.  The 
other  men,  as  well  as  the  skip  in  which  they  went  down,  were 
buried  deeply  under  the  mass  of  crushed  ground. 

The  work  of  repairing  No.  2  incline  could  not  be  begun 
until  July  I9th,  for  the  smoke  and  heat  from  the  mine  made 
work  in  the  crushed  portion  of  the  shaft  unendurable.  Even 
then  it  was  only  practicable  to  advance  very  slowly,  and  the  shaft 
was  not  opened  until  the  jd  of  August,  when  the  large  skips 
were  at  once  employed  to  bail  out  the  water.  Eight  days  later 
the  mine  was  drained,  and  the  reopening  of  the  workings  could 
be  undertaken. 

It  was  originally  intended  that  the  large  skips  in  No.  2  in- 


OBSTACLES    AND    PERILS 


395 


396      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

cline  should  be  used  in  hauling  blue  ground  from  the  yoo-foot 
level  only,  as  there  were  ample  facilities  in  No.  i  and  in  the  7-foot 
compartment  of  No.  2  for  hoisting  all  the  blue  ground  taken 
from  the  6oo-foot  level  and  the  levels  above.  Consequently  no 
stations  had  been  made  ready  for  the  larger  skips  on  the  latter  level. 
It  was  necessary,  therefore,  to  open  tunnels,  sink  passes,  and  put 
in  chutes  to  connect  the  6oo-foot  level  with  the  surface,  besides 
excavating  a  pump  chamber  and  erecting  new  pumps,  before  the 
regular  output  of  blue  ground  could  be  resumed.  During  the 
month  of  August  only  8613  loads  were  hauled,  and  this  was 
mostly  of  poor  quality  from  excavations  of  the  west  end  of  the 
mine.  During  September  the  output  was  increased  to  57,408 
loads,  in  October  to  87,225  ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  following 
month  of  November  that  the  output  reached  104,285  loads,  or 
approximately  the  same  amount  as  in  the  month  before  the  fire. 

This  brief  sketch  may  serve  to  show  to  the  general  reader 
something  of  the  terror,  the  peril,  and  the  disaster  which  an  out- 
break of  fire  in  any  great  mine  may  cause.  As  soon  as  practica- 
ble after  this  fire,  the  previously  designed  systematic  and  thorough 
opening  of  the  mine  was  advanced.  In  addition  to  No.  2  incline, 
the  rock  shaft  (elsewhere  particularly  described)  was  completed 
and  connected  with  the  mine  by  a  tunnel  on  the  8oo-foot  level.  A 
vertical  escape  shaft  was  sunk  from  one  of  the  terraces  in  the 
open  mine  to  the  yoo-foot  level.  It  had  a  ladderway  and  a 
single  cage  compartment,  and  was  connected  with  seven  levels  in 
the  mine.  The  Oriental  shaft,  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the 
mine,  was  connected  with  it  at  the  5Oo-foot  level,  from  which 
all  parts  of  the  mines  were  reached  by  ladderways.  This  shaft 
serves  to  ventilate  the  mine,  and  as  an  important  passage  for 
escape  in  case  of  need.  Besides  these  four  shafts  there  was  a 
tunnel  into  the  open  mine,  which  was  connected  with  the  lower 
workings  by  a  double  ladderway.  The  Oriental  shaft  and  No.  2 
incline  were  upcasts.  The  rock  shaft,  escape  shaft,  and  the 
tunnel  into  the  open  mine  were  downcasts. 

The  first  consideration  in  working  a  mine  is  to  have  a  safe 
exit  for  the  workmen,  in  case  a  fire  breaks  out  or  the  mine 


OBSTACLES   AND    PERILS  397 

becomes  flooded  by  suddenly  tapping  a  large  quantity  of  water, 
and  at  the  diamond  mines  this  precaution  is  strictly  carried  out. 
In  the  early  days  of  underground  mining,  when  many  of  the 
levels  had  exits  into  the  open  mine,  it  was  necessary,  in  pro- 
viding numerous  escapes  for  the  workmen,  to  guard  against  sly 
sallies  of  natives  when  there  was  no  danger,  because  they  could 
leave  the  mine  with  stolen  diamonds,  or  could  go  out  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  intoxicating  drink,  and  bring  back  bottles 
of  Cape  brandy,  called  "  Cape  Smoke,"  into  the  mines  with 
them.  Although  the  numerous  escapes  from  the  mine  were 
guarded  by  watchmen,  the  dusky  Kafirs  would  come,  at  times, 
in  squads,  and  overpower  the  guards  and  make  their  escape.  An 
ingenious  device  was  invented  by  our  electrician,  Mr.  Drum- 
mond,  by  placing  a  small  copper  rod  directly  above  the  iron 
rungs  of  the  ladders,  and  connecting  both  with  a  battery.  Then 
when  a  man  placed  his  hand  or  foot  upon  the  copper  rod,  it  bent 
down,  completing  the  circuit,  and  rung  an  alarm  bell  in  the 
mine  and  on  the  surface.  The  natives  could  never  quite  under- 
stand why  they  were  always  met  by  a  posse  of  white  guards  at 
the  particular  place  where  they  were  trying  to  escape. 

In  later  years,  since  the  mines  became  deeper,  all  workmen 
are  taken  in  and  out  of  the  mines  by  means  of  cages.  There 
are  double  ladderways  in  the  shafts  which  may  be  used  in  case 
of  emergency,  but  there  is  always  a  sufficient  number  of  white 
men  employed  about  the  tops  of  these  shafts  to  prevent  the 
escape  of  natives. 

In  view  of  the  responsibility  resting  upon  me  from  my 
acceptance  of  the  General  Managership  of  De  Beers  Mines  in 
the  year  preceding  this  great  disaster,  and  the  common  duty  of 
all  connected  with  the  mines  to  do  everything  practicable  to 
save  life,  to  prevent  the  outbreak  of  fire,  and  to  guard  against 
all  contingencies,  it  is  proper  to  note  the  warmly  appreciative 
recognition  accorded  by  the  presiding  chairman,  Mr.  Barnett 
Isaacs  Barnato,  at  the  adjourned  first  annual  meeting  of  the 
shareholders  of  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited. 
Mr.  Barnato  said  in  his  address  to  the  shareholders :  — 


398      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


OBSTACLES   AND    PERILS  399 

"  I  suppose  you  all  remember  about  the  sad  calamity  by 
which  so  many  poor  fellows  lost  their  lives.  At  this  point  I 
feel  I  must  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  brave  men  who 
worked  and  risked  their  lives  on  behalf  of  those  poor  fellows 
who  perished  in  the  disaster.  I  remember  on  that  sad  occasion, 
which  will  never  be  effaced  from  my  memory,  and  from  the 
memories  of  many  who  lived  in  Kimberley  at  the  time  —  I 
remember  seeing  our  respected  and  able  general  manager,  Mr. 
Gardner  Williams,  a  gentleman  to  whom  I  believe  no  person 
can  attach  the  least  blame,  working  night  and  day,  and  doing  all 
he  possibly  could  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers.  That  calamity 
was  an  act  of  God,  or  at  least  we  must  conclude  so,  for  on  the 
very  day  of  the  disaster  there  was  an  accident  in  No.  2  shaft, 
which  blocked  it  up  to  some  extent,  and  the  Gem  escape  shaft 
gave  way  only  a  week  previously.  I,  therefore,  think  that 
calamity  was  an  act  of  God,  and  I  hope  a  similar  disaster  will 
never  again  be  witnessed  in  Kimberley  or  elsewhere.  In  paying 
a  tribute  of  respect  to  Mr.  Williams,  who  worked  all  through 
the  night  when  the  fire  broke  out,  and  to  the  brave  men  who 
went  into  the  mine,  to  try  and  save  their  fellows,  we  must  not 
forget  that  those  men  risked  their  lives,  that  they  went  down 
into  the  mine,  when  millions  and  millions  of  loads  of  reef  were 
hanging  over  them,  to  open  up  the  shaft  so  that  the  men  might 
escape.  And  the  result  of  their  work,  we  know,  was  that  out  of 
about  seven  hundred  men  in  the  mine,  five  hundred  escaped. 
Therefore,  in  passing  this  tribute  of  respect  to  Mr.  Williams 
and  the  men,  I  feel  sure  that  it  will  be  universally  indorsed  by 
the  shareholders.  [Applause.]  No  more  need  be  said  about 
this  matter,  except  that  the  state  of  the  mine  after  the  calamity 
necessitated  a  considerable  expenditure  of  money.  I  think  it 
took  us  three  months  to  get  the  mine  in  proper  working  order, 
and  we  lost  three  months'  labor,  at  a  cost  of  something  like 
,£250,000.  The  balance  sheet  only  shows  about  ^30,000,  but 
by  the  loss  of  blue,  etc.,  the  loss  to  the  company  was,  as  I  have 
stated,  not  much  short  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  money." 

Providentially,  and  by  the  exercise  of  every  feasible  precaution, 


400      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

there  has  been  no  serious  spread  of  fire  in  the  mines  since  the 
occurrence  of  this  great  disaster. 

The  chief  peril  to  life  and  damage  to  the  workings  of  the 
mine,  for  a  number  of  years,  has  come  from  the  destructive 
"  mud  rushes,"  as  the  miners  call  them.  There  is  no  water  in 
the  blue  ground  or  the  mine  itself,  but  the  water  flowing  into 
the  mine  from  the  surrounding  reef  made  a  muddy  mixture 
of  the  disintegrated  shales,  decomposed  basalt,  floating  reef,  and 
low  grade  blue  ground,  which  had  fallen  into  the  worked  out 
section  of  the  open  mines.  At  times  the  tremendous  pressure 
of  the  shifting  ground  above  forces  this  mud  in  vast  quantities 
into  the  working  levels  of  the  mine,  and  the  miners  do  not  have 
time  to  escape  this  inrushing  mass  even  by  instant  flight.  On 
several  occasions  tunnels  in  the  mine  have  been  filled  to  the 
extent  of  thousands  of  feet  by  these  rushes  in  a  few  minutes. 
As  the  work  in  the  mines  reached  the  deeper  levels,  these  rushes 
became  so  frequent  that  the  working  of  the  mines  was  seriously 
interfered  with,  and  no  watchfulness  could  avert  the  loss  of  life. 

In  June,  1897,  one  of  the  worst  mud  rushes  known  in  the 
record  of  the  mines  occurred  in  De  Beers  mine,  filling  up  almost 
instantly  a  large  number  of  tunnels  on  the  looo-foot  level.  Two 
native  miners  were  overtaken  by  the  rush,  and  shut  up  in  a 
drainage  passage  that  was  in  progress  to  tap  the  water  in  that 
section  of  the  mine.  For  a  stretch  of  28  hours  they  were  held 
fast  in  this  narrow  prison  chamber,  momentarily  dreading  a  fur- 
ther rise  of  the  mud  that  would  bury  them  alive.  Meanwhile 
the  most  daring  efforts  were  made  to  rescue  them  from  their 
stifling  prison,  and  two  heroic  men,  Thomas  Brand  and  John 
Brown,  finally  burrowed  through  200  feet  on  the  top  of  the  mud, 
and  brought  the  two  natives  out  safely  at  an  appalling  risk  to 
their  own  lives.  The  rescue  was  barely  in  time,  for  the  next 
morning  another  rush  followed,  filling  up  the  tunnels  again  still 
further,  and  rising  to  the  top  of  the  passage  that  had  given 
breathing  room  to  the  imprisoned  men.  For  this  signal  heroism 
medals  of  the  Royal  Humane  Society  were  very  fitly  given  to 
Brand  and  Brown. 


OBSTACLES   AND    PERILS 


401 


4-02      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

In  May,  1898,  there  was  another  great  mud  rush  through 
the  ii2o-foot  level,  from  which  a  whole  gang  of  native  workers 
barely  escaped  alive.  On  this  occasion  "Jim,"  one  of  the  best 
of  the  "baas"  boys,  was  almost  buried  alive  with  his  gang  of  15 
men.  The  rush  shut  this  working  party  up  in  a  narrow  passage 
on  this  level  for  more  than  64  hours.  When  the  men  were 
rescued  at  length  from  their  stifling  quarters,  where  they  were 
imprisoned  for  more  than  two  and  a  half  days,  without  a  morsel 
of  food  to  eat  or  a  drop  of  water  to  drink,  all  were  greatly 
exhausted,  as  might  be  supposed.  But  in  spite  of  his  sufferings, 
the  brave  leader,  Jim,  went  back  at  once  into  the  mine  to 
grope  back  over  the  mud  in  search  of  one  of  his  gang  whom  he 
supposed  was  missing,  and  he  would  not  return  to  the  surface 
until  he  learned  beyond  doubt  that  all  had  been  rescued. 

The  endurance  of  the  native  miners  under  such  circumstances 
is  remarkable.  In  July,  1898,  a  Basuto  boy,  "Joseph,"  was 
almost  buried  in  a  mud  rush,  and  was  completely  shut  in  the 
"  dead  end  "  of  a  tunnel,  on  the  96o-foot  level.  The  attempt 
to  clear  a  passage  to  rescue  him  was  begun  at  once,  and  the  work 
was  pushed  without  a  respite  night  and  day,  but  it  was  late  on 
the  third  day  before  the  place  of  his  entombment  was  reached. 
He  was  found  lying  crouched  beneath  some  timbers  resting  on 
an  overturned  truck,  around  which  the  mud  had  risen  to  the 
depth  of  two  and  a  half  feet.  The  rescue  party  had  given  up 
all  hope  of  finding  him  alive,  and  were  about  to  blast  the  envel- 
oping mud  in  order  to  pull  out  the  truck,  when  a  faint  cough 
was  heard,  apparently  coming  out  of  the  dense  mass  of  mud. 
The  natives  at  work  were  badly  frightened  at  this  weird  sound, 
and  called  up  the  contractor  in  charge,  who  finally  succeeded  in 
digging  out  the  poor  Basuto  boy  nearly  lifeless.  One  of  his  legs 
had  been  pinned  beneath  the  truck  so  heavily  that  the  circulation 
of  the  blood  was  stopped,  and  mortification  set  in,  necessitating 
its  amputation.  The  boy  bore  the  operation  with  the  charac- 
teristic fortitude  of  his  race,  and  is  stumping  about  to-day  with 
a  wooden  leg.  He  had  been  shut  up  for  more  than  three  days 
in  a  little  hole  in  the  ground  wholly  without  food  and  drink, 


OBSTACLES   AND    PERILS 


403 


and  with  only  a  few  cubic  feet  of  compressed  stagnant  air  to 
breathe. 

When  a  tunnel  is  being  driven  there  is  only  one  way  of 
escape,  and  the  working  face  is  called  a  dead  end,  though  not 
on  account  of  its  deadly  nature  in  cases  of  a  mud  rush,  for 
it  is  a  common  term  in  miners'  parlance.  In  point  of  fact 
these  dead  ends  are  the  safest  places  in  the  vicinity  of  a 
mud  rush.  The  mud,  which  first  fills  the  mouth  of  the  tun- 
nel, forces  the  air  ahead  of  it,  and  compresses  it  to  such  an 
extent  that  it  checks  the  advance  of  the  mud.  Hence,  if  a 
native  is  hemmed  in,  he  has  sufficient  air  to  breathe  until 
he  can  be  rescued.  On  more  than  one  occasion  when  natives 
have  been  caught  in  the  rush  of  mud,  their  narrow  cell  would 
not  have  held  sufficient  air  to  keep  them  alive  had  it  not 
been  that  a  large  quantity  of  air  was  compressed  into  the  small 
space. 

On  one  occasion  two  natives  were  shut  up  in  the  dead  end 
of  a  tunnel  for  ninety-five  hours.  They  had  no  food,  but  man- 
aged to  obtain  a  small  quantity  of  water  as  it  trickled  down  from 
the  roof  and  sides  of  the  tunnel  after  finding  its  way  through  the 
blue  ground  from  the  level  above.  These  men  had  more  air 
space  than  is  usually  the  case,  and  the  temperature  in  the  ends 
of  the  tunnels  ordinarily  ranges  from  75  to  90  degrees.  When 
rescued  they  were  greatly  exhausted,  but  after  a  few  days  of 
medical  treatment  they  were  quite  fit  again,  and  resumed  their 
work  in  the  mine.  At  another  time,  when  natives  were  shut  in 
for  nearly  two  days,  they  swallowed  small  balls  of  soft  mud,  and 
when  rescued  it  took  a  considerable  time  to  bring  their  diges- 
tive organs  back  to  their  normal  condition.  On  several  occa- 
sions the  white  miners  have  been  victims  to  similar  experiences, 
and  now  and  again  a  white  miner  has  lost  his  life  by  being 
overtaken  and  enveloped  in  the  mud.  The  longest  period  of 
time  that  a  white  man  has  been  confined  in  the  end  of  a  tunnel 
is  about  two  days,  and  there  were  a  dozen  or  more  natives  with 
him.  By  giving  the  usual  miners'  signal  of  tap-tap  —  tap-tap- 
tap,  on  the  walls  of  the  tunnel,  we  knew  he  was  alive,  and  it 


404      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

may  be  imagined  that  no  time  was  lost  in  extricating  him  and 
his  men  from  their  perilous  position. 

Of  recent  years  the  measures  described  in  the  preceding 
chapter  have  proved  effective  in  freeing  Kimberley  mine  from 
this  peril.  The  water  which  finds  its  way  into  De  Beers  mine 
has  not  yet  been  entirely  taken  up,  but  by  driving  tunnels  around 
the  mine  to  tap  the  water  the  danger  has  been  minimized.  On 
the  ist  of  October,  1899,  s'x  natives  were  overcome  by  a  mud 
rush  and  killed.  Wherever  there  is  the  least  sign  of  mud,  the 
workmen  are  withdrawn,  and  the  places  fenced  off  until  the  mud 
has  come  out  or  the  water  is  drained  off,  leaving  the  places  safe 
for  the  miners  to  reenter  them. 

As  there  have  been  from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  men  employed 
in  the  mines  and  workshops  and  on  the  depositing  floors,  three- 
fifths  of  whom  are  underground  workers,  who  are  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent  raw  and  untrained  natives,  the  percentage  of  deaths 
and  injuries  has  not  been  excessive. 

In  the  painstaking  and  valuable  reports  of  Dr.  C.  Le  Neve 
Foster,  H.  M.  Inspector  of  Mines,  he  compares  the  returns  of 
casualties  in  the  South  African  mines  with  the  like  statistics  of 
mines  in  which  trained  Englishmen  are  employed.  This  com- 
parison bears  hardly  in  its  application  to  the  diamond  mines,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  great  majority  of  the  native  workers  in 
these  mines  are  "raw  hands."  There  is  probably  a  change  of 
half  the  workers  in  the  mine  every  year,  and  the  men  coming 
in  to  offset  the  outflow  are  mostly  natives  who  have  not  worked 
in  the  mines,  and  are  familiarly  known  as  "green  hands."  In 
time  these  men  are  trained  to  a  fair  measure  of  proficiency,  but 
it  is  to  be  expected  that  the  proportion  of  accidents  to  the 
numbers  of  such  workmen  will  be  greater  than  the  average  in 
English  mines. 

From  the  carefully  prepared  statistics  of  Sir  Frederic  Augus- 
tus Abel,  covering  the  loss  of  life  in  English  mines,1  it  appears 
that  the  greatest  loss  occurs  from  falls  of  the  roof  and  sides 

1  Supplement  to  Forty-fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Registrar  General  of  Births, 
Deaths,  and  Marriages  in  Great  Britain. 


OBSTACLES   AND    PERILS  405 

of  mine  workings,  amounting  to  40.77  of  the  total.  The  loss 
of  life  from  explosions  comes  next,  with  a  showing  of  23.17  per 
cent.  In  the  records  of  fires  in  mines  from  all  causes,  it  is 
shown  that  only  a  very  small  percentage  of  men  are  actually 
burned  to  death,  fully  90  per  cent  of  the  deaths  resulting  from 
suffocation. 

Contrary  to  the  popular  impression,  it  has  been  shown  by 
Dr.  C.  Le  Neve  Foster,  that  the  ore  miner  has  nearly  as  danger- 
ous an  occupation  as  the  coal  miner;  and  in  Cornwall  and  some 
other  metalliferous  districts  the  average  losses  from  accidents 
were  higher  than  in  coal  mines.  Dr.  Ogle  has  pushed  this  com- 
parison farther  by  his  statistical  demonstration  that,  in  spite  of 
accidents,  the  death  rate  of  coal  miners  is  not  high.  In  com- 
parative mortality  these  miners  ranked  only  thirtieth  in  a  list 
of  ninety-four  occupations ;  but  the  mining  in  Cornwall,  at 
the  time  of  this  report,  was  exceptionally  perilous,  standing 
ninety-first  on  the  list.  In  other  words,  only  three  of  the  ninety- 
four  occupations  exceeded  the  mining  in  this  district  in  deadli- 
ness.  This  peculiarly  high  mortality  was  ascribed  to  inadequate 
ventilation  and  excessive  climbing  of  ladders  from  deep  mines.1 
These  conditions,  of  late  years,  have  been  bettered. 

1  Supplement  to  Forty-fifth  Annual   Report  of  the  Registrar  General  of  Births, 
Deaths,  and  Marriages  in  Great  Britain. 


406      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


CHAPTER   XIV 


THE    WORKERS     IN    THE     MINES 

OWHERE  else  on  the  face  of  the  earth  is  there 
an  assemblage  of  workers  of  such  varied  types 
of  race,  nationality,  and  coloring  as  are  to  be 
seen  in  the  South  African  Diamond  Fields. 
There  is  hardly  a  nation  of  Europe  or  Colony 
of  the  British  Empire  that  has  not  some  repre- 
sentatives. There  are  adventurers  from  the  United  States, 
Mexico,  and  South  America;  and  white  men  from  all  the  Colo- 
nies of  South  Africa  mingle  with  the  masses  of  native  Africans 
of  every  shade  of  dusky  hue  shown  by  the  tribes  that  range 
from  the  Cape  to  the  equator.  Even  the  American  Indian  is 
not  unknown  in  the  fields,  one  specimen  at  least  having  resided 
there  for  many  years.  Add  to  this  motley  throng  a  sprinkling 
of  dark  East  Indians,  Malays,  and  Chinese,  and  the  kaleido- 
scopic shifts  and  coloring  of  this  babel  in  the 
Diamond  Fields  may  be  dimly  conceived. 

Only  about  a  sixth  of  the  workers  in  the 
mines  are  whites,  and  the  larger  part  of  these 
are  employed  above  ground  on  the  floors,  in 
the  workshops,  and  in  the  offices  of  the  mining 
companies.  The  majority  of  the  white  miners 


are   of  English   descent,  largely   coming  from    j.  M.  jones,  Manager, 


Premier  Mine, 


the  hematite  mines  of  Cumberland,  and  the  tin, 
lead,  and  copper  mines  of  Cornwall.  They  come  to  the  fields 
in  search  of  employment,  which  is  given  as  occasion  arises. 
Experience  in  other  kinds  of  mines  is  soon  adapted  to  the 
conditions  in  the  Diamond  Fields,  and  the  men  in  the  De 
Beers  mines  show  a  high  average  of  efficiency.  The  nationalities 

407 


4o8       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

of  the  mechanics,  engine-drivers,  and  others  working  about 
machinery  are  Scotch,  English,  and  colonial,  with  a  sprinkling 
of  Americans  and  other  nationalities.  Those  working  on  the 
floors  and  about  the  washing  machines  are  largely  of  colonial 
birth  —  English  and  Dutch,  —  the  balance  being  mostly  home- 
born  Englishmen. 

The  majority  of  the  white  workers  above  and  below  ground 
have  their  homes  in  Kimberley  and  the  other  neighboring  min- 


The  Engineers,  Mechanics,  and  Workmen  who  built  De  Beers  Crushing  Plant. 

ing  towns.  Wages  paid  to  European  day  laborers  on  the  surface 
range  from  IQJ.  to  15^.  a  day;  mechanics  receive  higher  pay, 
which  ranges  from  i6s.  %d.  to  £i  per  day,  and  white  miners  are 
paid  the  same  rate.  Miners  who  prove  their  competence  are 
given  contracts  for  specified  work,  by  which  their  earnings 
are  usually  materially  increased.  Since  1892  all  underground 
work  has  been  done  by  the  men  working  eight-hour  shifts. 
The  length  of  the  working  day  above  ground  varies  with  the 
class  of  work  done.  Engine-drivers  and  men  employed  in  gen- 
eral service  at  the  mines  work  from  ten  to  twelve  hours  daily. 


THE   WORKERS   IN   THE    MINES 


409 


On    the   depositing  floors  work    begins  in   the    summer  at  six 

o'clock  in  the  morning ;  time  is  given  for  breakfast,  which  is 

brought  to  the  men,  an  hour's  rest  is  allowed 

at  noon,  and  work  generally  ends  between   5 

and  5.30  in  the  afternoon.    All  mechanics  work 

54  hours  in  the  week,  stopping  at  i  o'clock  on 

Saturday,  at  which  hour  all  work  on  the  surface 

ends   for  the   day.     Sunday  is   a   full   holiday 

above  and  below  ground  for  every  one  except 

those  in  charge   of  pumping  engines,  pumps,     Frank  ManilX'  Mana- 
ger, De  Beers  Mine 

boilers,  man  cages,  etc.,  which  must  have  atten-  Compound. 
tion  on  Sundays  as  well  as  week  days,  and  a  few  hands  employed 
underground  on  necessary  repair  work  to  the  shafts  and  mines, 
which  cannot  be  done  during  the  week  while  the  mines  are  in 
full  work.  Kxtra  time  is  allowed  mechanics,  miners,  and  others 
working  under  exceptional  conditions.  The  pay  of  the  men 
enables  them  to  live  comfortably  in  the  mining  towns,  and  as 
they  are  little  given  to  dissipation,  the  thrifty  are  enabled  to  add 
to  their  savings  yearly,  as  the  work,  except  for  the  interruption 
by  the  war,  is  continuous  and  regular. 

Employes'  houses  in  Kimberley  are  scattered  through  the 
city,  and  many  of  them  own  their  own  homes.  Some  of  the 
miners'  houses  cost  ^500  or  over.  They  are  commonly  made 
of  brick,  or  with  corrugated  iron  sides  and  roofs  —  the  division 
walls  being  of  unburnt  brick  and  the  outside  walls  being  of  the 
same  material.  The  rental  of  a  house  in  town 
ranges  from  £4.  to  _£8  per  month.  The  price 
of  board  at  the  boarding  houses  is  about  25^. 
per  week.  The  price  of  meat  has  commonly 
been  about  6d.  or  ^d.  per  pound,  although  since 
the  war,  and  owing  to  the  devastation  caused 
by  rinderpest,  the  price  of  beef  has  nearly 

R.   G.   Scott,    Superin-      j        11    j          T->  11  .  j     r 

tendent,  De   Beers    doubled.      1  o  supply  the  urgent  demand  tor 

convict  station.         cheaper   meat,    the    De    Beers    Company    has 

erected  large  cold-storage  plants  at  Cape  Town  and  Kimberley, 

and  is  now  importing  meat  for  sale  to  butchers  at  Kimberley. 


4io      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Beef  and  mutton  make  up  the  bulk  of  the  meat  sold.  From 
March  to  August  the  markets  are  well  supplied  with  game, 
chiefly  springbok,  stembok,  guinea  fowl,  partridges,  bustards, 
korhaan,  and  sand-grouse.  Vegetables  of  all  kinds  are  fairly 
plentiful  and  to  be  had  at  reasonable  prices.  For  potatoes  the 
current  charge  is  from  155.  to  yos.  per  sack  of  somewhat  less 
than  200  pounds.  Cabbages,  cauliflower,  beets,  beans,  parsnips, 
carrots,  onions,  sweet  corn,  and  celery  are  among  the  vegetables 
chiefly  sold.  Melons  and  fruits  of  all  kinds  are  also  plentiful  in 
season.  All  vegetables  and  fruit  brought  from  the  neighboring 


Rinderpest. 

farms  to  Kimberley  for  sale  are  taken  to  the  market  square  and 
sold  under  the  supervision  of  the  market  master  to  green- 
grocers, East  Indian  hawkers,  and  the  public  generally.  Flour 
has  nearly  a  fixed  value,  being  cheaper  when  the  production 
in  Basutoland  and  other  grain-producing  districts  is  plentiful, 
but  never  exceeds  a  certain  price,  fixed  by  the  competition  for  im- 
ported flour  upon  which  the  government  levies  a  duty.  The  flour 
chiefly  used  by  the  natives  and  by  many  of  the  white  people  as  well 
is  what  is  called  Boer  meal,  which  makes  a  brown  bread,  for  only 
the  bran  has  been  removed.  There  are  a  number  of  roller  mills 
in  the  country  that  produce  flour  which  compares  favorably  with 


THE    WORKERS    IN    THE    MINES 


411 


412      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

imported  flour.  There  is  an  understanding  between  the  Govern- 
ment, the  local  dealers,  and  De  Beers,  that  De  Beers  Company 
shall  only  sell  the  necessaries  of  life  to  the  natives  in  the  com- 
pounds, and  that  the  price  shall  range  about  the  same  as  local 
prices  in  town.  Any  profits  derived  from  these  sales  is  to  be 
distributed  among  public  institutions  and  charities. 


Chiefs  of  the  Batlapin  Tribe. 

In  the  mines  operated  by  the  De  Beers  Company  alone, 
more  than  eleven  thousand  African  natives  are  employed 
below  and  above  ground,  coming  from  the  Transvaal,  Ba- 
sutoland,  and  Bechuanaland,  from  districts  far  north  of  the 
Limpopo  and  the  Zambesi,  and  from  the  Cape  Colony  on  the 
east  and  the  south  to  meet  the  swarms  flocking  from  Delagoa 
Bay  and  countries  along  the  coast  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  while  a 
few  cross  the  continent  from  Damaraland  and  Namaqualand, 
and  the  coast  washed  by  the  Atlantic.  The  larger  number  are 
roughly  classed  as  Basutos,  Shanganes,  M'umbanes,  and  Zulus, 
but  there  are  many  Batlapins  from  Bechuanaland,  Amafengu, 


THE   WORKERS   IN   THE    MINES  413 

and  a  sprinkling  of  nearly  every  other  tribe  in  South  Africa. 
Many  travel  hundreds  of  miles,  and  some  more  than  a  thousand 
miles,  in  order  to  reach  the  Diamond  Fields,  and  many  of  these 
arrive  half  starved,  and  so  weak  and  emaciated  that  they  are 
almost  worthless  as  laborers  for  weeks  afterward.  The  natives, 
as  a  rule,  are  generally  muscular,  sinewy  men,  but  not  fleshy. 
Their  feet  are  broad  and  flat,  but  their  legs  and  arms  are  com- 
monly well  rounded,  and  their  thigh  and  shoulder  muscles  are 
large.  The  living  skeletons  who  come  in  from  the  far  interior 
districts  of  Africa  gain  flesh,  as  rapidly  as  lean  cattle  do  in  green 
pastures,  when  they  reach  a  field  flowing  with  meat  and  por- 
ridge. In  the  early  years  of  the  mines,  the  raw  recruits  were 
hooted  at  and  sometimes  pelted  with  stones  by  their  kinsmen 
at  the  mines,  as  before  noted,  but  of  late  years  this  rough  greet- 
ing and  hazing  has  very  largely  passed  away. 

For  the  lodging  and  feeding  of  this  great  force  of  native 
Africans,  special  provision  is  made  by  the  erection  of  large 
walled  enclosures,  called  compounds,  at  the  mines  and  on  de- 
positing floors.  There  are  seventeen  of  these  compounds  on 
the  Diamond  Fields,  twelve  of  which  are  owned  by  the  De 
Beers  Company.  The  largest  of  all  is  the  one  at  De  Beers 
mine,  and  the  description  of  this  will  serve  for  all,  as  they  are 
essentially  alike,  except  in  size. 

Fully  four  acres  are  enclosed  by  the  walls  of  De  Beers  Com- 
pound, giving  ample  space  for  the  housing  of  its  three  thousand 
inmates,  with  an  open  central  ground  for  exercise  and  sports. 
The  fences  are  of  corrugated  iron,  rising  ten  feet  above  the 
ground,  and  there  is  an  open  space  of  ten  feet  between  the  fence 
and  the  buildings.  At  the  northern  end  of  the  compound  there 
is  an  entrance  gate.  Iron  cabins  fringe  the  inner  sides  of  the 
enclosure,  divided  into  rooms  25  feet  by  30  feet,  which  are 
lighted  by  electricity.  In  each  room  twenty  to  twenty-five 
natives  are  lodged.  The  beds  supplied  are  ordinary  wooden 
bunks,  and  the  bed  clothing  is  usually  composed  of  blankets 
which  the  natives  bring  with  them,  or  buy  at  the  stores  in  the 
compound,  where  there  is  a  supply  of  articles  to  meet  the  sim- 


4H      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


THE   WORKERS   IN   THE   MINES 


__^ U 


416      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

pie  needs  of  the  natives.  Besides  these  stores  there  is  a  hospital 
and  dispensary,  where  any  needed  medical  attention  is  promptly 
given,  and  a  church  for  religious  services,  conducted  by  mission- 
aries delegated  by  the  various  church  denominations.  During 
week  days  this  church  is  also  used  as  a  school  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  natives.  Compartments,  with  entrances  opening 
through  the  walls,  are  set  apart  for  latrines,  and  cared  for  with 
strict  attention  to  sanitation.  In  the  centre  of  the  enclosure 
there  is  a  large  concrete  swimming  bath,  in  which  most  of  the 
natives  are  at  times  found  diving  and  swimming,  as  is  vividly 
shown  in  the  accompanying  illustrations  (see  also  page  440). 
If  any  fail  to  show  the  necessary  regard  to  cleanliness,  they  are 
compelled  to  keep  themselves  clean. 

A  competent  manager  is  in  charge  of  the  compound,  and 
his  assistants  are  intrusted  with  the  charge  of  preserving  order 
and  enforcing  the  compound  regulations.  The  natives  look 
upon  the  manager  as  their  great  white  chief.  He  settles  any 
disputes  which  may  arise  among  them,  and  in  conjunction 
with  the  mine  manager  investigates  any  complaints  in  reference 
to  the  amount  of  pay  which  has  been  allowed  them,  or  any 
punishment  or  ill  treatment  by  their  white  "  baases,"  which, 
needless  to  say,  is  contrary  to  the  regulations. 

The  compound  is  lighted  by  electricity,  arc  lights  being 
hung  within  and  without  the  enclosure.  When  a  newcomer  or 
a  number  of  natives,  for  they  usually  come  in  little  troops, 
apply  at  the  gate  of  the  compound  for  employment,  the  appli- 
cants are  admitted  into  the  compound  only  by  the  immediate 
direction  of  the  manager  or  his  assistants.  As  soon  as  they 
enter,  their  clothes  are  searched  to  prevent  the  smuggling  in  of 
liquor,  playing  cards,  or  other  forbidden  articles;  then  the 
officer  in  charge  of  the  dispensary  examines  each  separately  and 
carefully.  No  diseased  man  is  given  work,  and  any  suffering 
from  contagious  diseases  are  sent  at  once  to  a  quarantine  build- 
ing outside  the  compound,  where  a  temporary  provision  for 
such  cases  has  been  made.  Within  twenty-four  hours,  a  second 
examination  of  every  one  admitted  who  shows  any  symptoms 


THE   WORKERS   IN   THE    MINES 


of  disease  is  made  by  a  physician  in  the  employ  of  the  company, 
who  daily  visits  the  compound. 

To  enter  the  service  of  the  company,  each  applicant  must 
sign  a  written  contract,  binding  himself  to  live  in  the  compound 
and  work  continuously  and  faithfully  for  a  period  of  at  least 


De  Beers  Compound. 

three  months,  or  longer  if  he  so  desires.  At  the  expiration  of 
a  contract,  the  applicant  may  leave  if  he  chooses,  or  his  contract 
may  be  renewed  indefinitely.  Some  of  the  natives  in  De  Beers 
Compound  have  been  employed  continuously  for  ten  years  or 
more  in  the  service  of  the  company,  for  the  more  industrious 
prefer  the  certainty  of  wholesome  food  and  steady  pay  to  the 


418      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


THE   WORKERS   IN   THE    MINES 


419 


u 

H 

2  z 

r  D 

1 

z  1 

§8 

O    W 

o9 

5   D 

w  o 

o 

u 

H 

a 

o 

z 

o 

X 

t/1 

Q 

D 

2 

s 

o 

u 

j 

a 

Id 

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03 

H 

Q 

420      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

shifting  to  any  other  occupation  that  is  open  to  them,  or  to 
return  to  their  old  savage  life.  All  contracts  are  filled  out  in 
behalf  of  the  natives  by  an  officer  delegated  for  this  purpose  by 
the  Registrar  of  Natives,  a  Government  Official,  in  order  to  keep 
a  record  of  all  additions  to  the  inmates  of  the  compound,  and 
provide  assurance  that  the  contract  is  signed  with  a  full  under- 
standing of  its  provisions.  In  consideration  of  this  service  the 
native  pays  a  registration  fee  of  a  shilling,  and  a  shilling  per 
month  during  the  term  of  his  employment.  All  receipts  from 


De  Beers  Compound  Musical  Band  of  Natives. 

this  source,  except  the  registration  fee,  go  to  the  Kimberley 
Hospital  Fund  for  the  care  of  sick  and  wounded  natives.  As 
the  company  provides  for  the  natives  in  its  own  hospitals,  where 
free  medical  attendance  and  nurses,  as  well  as  free  food,  are 
furnished,  the  Kimberley  hospital  receives  a  very  large  monthly 
contribution  without  being  at  any  expense  for  the  care  of  sick 
natives  in  the  compounds.  After  his  signature  or  mark  has  been 
affixed  to  this  agreement,  a  native  cannot  leave  the  compound 
until  the  specified  term  has  expired,  except  by  the  permission  of 
the  compound  manager,  which  is  rarely  given  because  of  the 
opportunities  that  would  be  opened  for  taking  out  diamonds. 


THE   WORKERS    IN   THE    MINES 


421 


A  Fireside  Gathering,  Kimbcrley  Compound. 

Underground  work  in  the  mine  is  carried  on  both  day 
and  night  by  three  shifts,  under  the  supervision  of  the  mine 
manager  and  overman  and  three  assistant  overmen,  one  of  whom 
is  detailed  to  take  charge  of  each  shift.  The  shaft  is  reached 
through  an  underground  passage  leading  from  the  compound, 
and  a  partition  in  this  passage  gives  separate  entry  and  exit 
ways  to  and  from  the  mine.  All  laborers  are  taken  up  and 
down  the  shafts  in  cages.  Each  "  boy  "  wears  a  number  on  his 
wristband  for  easy  identification,  and  when  he  passes  into  the 
mine  his  number  is  taken  by  a  guard,  and  a  tally  machine 
records  each  native  as  he  leaves  the  compound  to  go  to  work ; 
on  his  return,  daily,  he  brings  a  ticket  noting  in  what  working 
gang  he  was  employed  and  what  pay  he  had  earned  for  the  day. 
The  natives  commonly  work  for  the  contractors,  who  mine  and 
tram  the  diamond-bearing  ground  at  a  price  per  load  which  is 
arranged  by  tender,  and  the  natives  are  paid  a  fixed  wage  per 
diem ;  but  a  worker  must  drill  a  certain  number  of  feet  of  holes 
for  blasting,  which  in  soft  ground  is  about  twelve  feet,  or  he 
must  load  a  fixed  number  of  trucks,  in  order  to  earn  his  daily 
pay.  The  natives  usually  work  in  the  mines  in  gangs  num- 
bering from  ten  to  thirty  men  and  boys.  The  limit  of  age 


422      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

for  the  employes  in  the  mines  is  fixed  by  government  regu- 
lation, which  provides  that  no  boy  under  twelve  shall  be 
employed.  Another  regulation  prohibits  the  employment  of 
females  in  mining  work.  It  is  further  provided  that  no  native 
shall  be  employed  underground,  or  in  any  of  the  compounds, 
except  under  the  responsible  charge  of  a  white  employe  of  the 


Natives  making  Coffee,  Kimberley  Compound. 

company.  The  handling  of  the  dynamite  cartridges  used  in  blast- 
ing is  intrusted  solely  to  white  employes,  and  all  work  done  by 
the  native  gangs  is  laid  out  and  directed  by  white  overseers. 

The  drilling  in  the  blue  ground  is  done  for  the  most  part 
with  long  hand  drills, — jumpers,  —  which  are  sharpened  at  both 
ends,  and  which  the  natives  readily  learn  to  use  effectively;  where 
the  blue  rock  is  hard,  the  natives  use  single  hand  hammers. 
Their  sinewy  frames  and  powers  of  endurance  enable  them  to 


THE   WORKERS   IN   THE   MINES 


423 


labor  day  in  and  out  without  any  apparent  injury  to  their  health. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  nearly  all  gain  strength  and  flesh  in  the 
mines.  All  the  "drill  boys"  in  De  Beers  mines  are  now 
natives,  and  are  scattered  through  the  mines  on  various  levels 


Open  Mine  Workers,  Kimberley  Compound. 

while  working,  the  number  at  any  one  point  depending  upon 
the  size  of  the  working  face  or  stope  of  blue  ground.  At  points 
half  a  dozen  boys  may  be  working  together  with  drills,  indus- 
triously pecking  away  at  the  diamond-bearing  ground.  Natives 
are  also  employed  in  clearing  away  the  excavated  ground,  and 
loading  the  trucks,  which  run  on  tramways  to  the  hoisting  shafts 


424      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

when  working  on  a  main  level,  or  to  chutes  on  the  intermediate 
levels.  If  the  roofs  of  the  levels  were  transparent  and  a  view 
were  possible  of  the  workers,  —  whites  and  blacks,  —  toiling  day 
and  night  in  these  underground  passages  and  stopes,  gleaming 
with  the  white  rays  of  electric  lamps,  or  plunged  in  darkness, 
only  relieved  by  the  flickering  yellow  flame  points  of  straggling 
candles  —  this  vast  underground  hive  of  workers  would  be  a 
greatly  stirring  and  impressive  sight.  As  it  is,  some  conception 


Kimberley  Mine  Compound. 

of  the  great  mine  may  be  built  up  piecemeal  in  the  mind's  eye 
by  combining  the  illustrations  of  the  men  at  work  which  artists 
in  the  mines  have  been  able  to  make,  some  of  which  are  given 
in  the  pages  of  this  work. 

There  is  a  certain  racial  resemblance  in  the  temperament, 
character,  and  often  in  the  speech  of  all  these  native  miners,  but 
there  are  also  marked  tribal  distinctions.  The  natives  are  clan- 
nish, and  it  is  rare  to  see  members  of  two  different  tribes  lodg- 
ing together.  "  Boys  "  of  the  one  tribe  always  prefer  working 
together,  and  this  natural  liking  is  humored  to  some  extent  in 


THE   WORKERS    IN   THE    MINES 


425 


Natives  drilling  in  the  Open  Mine. 


selecting  gangs  to  work,  although  the  mixing  of  the  tribes  in  the 

mines  is  inevitable,  and  often  desirable.     The  Zulu,  sprung  from 

the  warlike  tribes 

moulded       by 

Chaka,  is  one  of 

the    best    of   the 

native   workmen, 

tall,  straight,  and 

erect   in    bearing, 

proud  of  the  tribal 

traditions   of  the 

Ama/ulu,      "  the 

people      of      the 

sky,"  and,  but  for 

an  exceptional  fit 

of  passion,  a  good- 
tempered,  cheery, 

and  ever  willing  and  capable  worker.  The  Amashangaans,  com- 
ing chiefly  from  Portuguese  East  Africa,  are  closely  akin  to  the 

Zulus,  and  resem- 
ble them  in  form, 
temperament,  and 
working  efficien- 
cy. The  Trans- 
vaal Basutos  rank 
with  the  other  two 
as  workmen,  for 
most  are  indus- 
trious and  capa- 
ble, and  form  the 
most  obedient 
class  of  native  la- 
borers, and  nearly 

The  Last  of  Open  Mining  in  Dutoitspan  Mine.  &JJ  ljeCQme  skilled 

in  drilling.  The  men  of  most  of  the  native  tribes  range  over 
5  feet  8  inches  in  height.  Many  are  fully  6  feet  tall,  and  several 


426       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


of  the  old  hands  are  from 
6  feet  4  inches  to  6  feet  6 
inches  in  height.  To  this 
high  range  the  Batlapins 
from  Bechuanaland  are  the 
most  notable  exception,  for 
they  often  are  not  much 
larger  than  the  dwarfed 
Bushmen  of  the  Kalahari 
desert.  They  are  not  fa- 
vorites at  the  mines  with 
the  other  tribes,  or  with  the 
whites,  for  they  are  often 
impudent  and  meanly  self- 
ish, and  difficult  to  in- 
struct in  underground 
work. 

The  ordinary  dress  of  the  natives  in  the  compound  is  a  wool- 
len shirt,  trousers,  and  shoes.  They  rarely  wear  any  under- 
clothing, and  when  at  work  in  the  mines,  a  pair  of  ragged 


Native  drilling  Underground. 


Drilling  Underground. 


THE    WORKERS    IN    THE    MINES 


427 


trousers,  a  blanket,  or  old  breech  cloth  will  often  be  their  only 
covering.  Occasional  visitors  to  the  mine  are  startled  by  the 
native  disregard  for  cover ;  but  the  natives  are  commonly  alert  to 
pass  the  word  "  umfas  "  (woman)  from  one  to  another  when  a 
lady  visitor  is  seen  in  the  mines,  and  then  the  native  workers  on 
the  level  ahead  scramble  for  cover  or  hiding. 


The  Midday  Meal. 

When  any  injuries  happen  to  the  men  from  accidents  in  the 
mines,  the  suffering  natives  show  remarkable  fortitude  in  bear- 
ing pain  and  enduring  the  necessary  surgical  operations.  Their 
blood  is  warm  and  pure,  and  cuts  in  their  flesh,  or  bruises,  heal 
very  rapidly.  They  suffer  most  from  diseases  of  the  lungs, 
especially  phthisis  and  pneumonia,  which  are  common  maladies 
of  the  native  tribes  outside  of  the  mines,  as  well  as  within  the 
compounds.  They  can  readily  obtain  fresh  vegetables  and 
fruit,  but  the  common  choice  of  food,  such  as  mealie  meal  and 
meat,  exposes  them  to  attacks  of  scurvy.  In  spite  of  the  care- 
ful and  repeated  medical  examinations  before  men  are  admitted 
to  the  compound,  cases  of  leprosy  are  occasionally  found. 
In  such  cases  provision  is  made  at  once  for  the  isolation  of  the 
sufferers.  The  Government  officials  are  notified,  and  the  dis- 
eased men  are  transferred  to  Robin  Island,  where  the  Govern- 
ment has  a  permanent  leper  station.  Outbreaks  of  other 
contagious  or  infectious  diseases  are  met  by  the  isolation  of  the 
patients  in  a  special  lazaretto  outside  of  the  town,  which  is  under 
the  supervision  of  the  board  of  health.  Natives  suffering  from 


428      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

any  disease  that  is  not  infectious  are  cared  for  in  the  hospital 
of  the  compound,  which  has  several  wards,  —  one  for  cases  of 
fever,  one  for  convalescents,  and  one  for  surgical  treatment. 
A  qualified  dispenser  is  in  charge  of  the  hospital  and  dispen- 
sary, and  physicians  engaged  by  the  Company  are  in  daily 
attendance. 

At  the  shops  in  the  compound  any  articles  of  food  and  cloth- 
ing which  the  inmates  commonly  want  are  supplied.  The  staff 
of  life  is  corn,  or  mealie  meal  in  some  form,  sometimes  baked 
in  hoe  cakes,  but  generally  made  into  porridge.  A  consid- 
erable quantity  of  brown  bread  made  from  Boer  meal  is  also 
eaten,  with  meat,  vegetables,  and  fruit  in  season.  Meat  is  com- 
monly cooked  by  boiling  or  by  roasting  over  wood  fires.  The 
prices  are  never  permitted  to  be  in  excess  of  the  common  market 
prices  in  Kimberley.  If  a  "  boy  "  does  not  want  the  trouble  of 
cooking  for  himself,  he  can  buy  ready  cooked  food,  which  is  sup- 
plied by  the  company  or  at  any  one  of  a  number  of  coffee  shops 
in  the  compound.  One  of  the  favorite  resorts  belongs  to  a 
Zulu,  popularly  known  as  "  Roast  Beef,"  who  had  the  misfor- 
tune to  lose  his  leg  in  an  accident  in  the  mines.  He  does  his 
cooking  over  an  open  wood  fire  with  the  aid  of  a  few  kettles  and 
pans ;  and  a  bare  wooden  table,  usually  made  from  dynamite 
cases,  serves  for  his  dishes ;  but  he  is  a  chef  in  his  line,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  compound,  and  is  making  more  money  than  he 
earned  before  he  was  crippled. 

There  are  a  number  of  native  tailors  on  the  ground,  who  can 
fit  and  make  a  suit  to  order,  or  repair  one,  with  no  little  dexter- 
ity. Native  mining  suits  are  usually  made  of  the  English  cloth 
known  as  moleskin,  and  the  tailors,  in  accordance  with  South 
African  custom,  put  large  patches  on  the  seat  and  around  the 
foot  of  the  trousers.  Sewing  machines  are  commonly  used, 
which  the  natives  buy  in  Kimberley  through  the  compound 
manager.  Some  work  in  the  mines  during  the  week,  but  like 
to  earn  additional  shillings  by  cloth  cutting  and  sewing  during 
their  leisure  hours,  when  their  machines  may  be  heard  clicking 
from  morning  till  night. 


THE   WORKERS    IN   THE   MINES 


429 


430      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

There  are  native  barbers  and  hair-dressers,  also,  of  whom 
the  chief  is  "  Sandy,"  a  Cape  boy,  who  struts  about  on  Sunday 
in  a  khaki  jacket  with  the  airs  of  a  tonsorial  artist  on  the  crest 
of  fashion,  and  is  reputed  to  make  more  on  his  holiday  with  his 
clippers  than  he  can  earn  in  a  week  with  the  drill  below  ground. 
He  has  not  as  much  range  for  his  art  as  a  French  barber,  for 
most  of  his  patrons  want  their  hair  cut  off  close  to  the  scalp  ;  but 


Native  making  Bangles. 

. 


he  is  justifiably  vain  of  the  speed  with  which  he  lops  off  one 
bushy  head  of  hair,  and  makes  room  for  the  next  to  fall. 

Pedlers  of  all  sorts,  dealing  in  cakes,  tobacco,  and  ginger  beer, 
have  their  stalls  in  the  moving  throng,  especially  on  Sundays 
and  other  holidays,  and  here  and  there  are  to  be  seen  workers 
in  Kafir  adornments,  principally  in  armlets  or  bangles,  and  bands 
for  the  legs.  These  are  usually  made  of  fine  copper  and  brass 
wire  rolled  upon  rings  of  horse  hair.  The  rings  are  about  one 
eighth  of  an  inch  in  cross  section  and  from  four  to  five  inches 


THE    WORKERS    IN    THE    MINES 


431 


432       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

in  diameter,  varying  with  the  size  of  the  hands  over  which  they 
must  be  slipped.  The  wire  is  wound  round  the  hair  very  skil- 
fully. European  visitors  occasionally  supply  gold  wire  to  these 
workers,  which  the  natives  wind  around  the  hair  centres  into 
fanciful  bangles,  some  of  which  are  very  pretty. 

All  the  workers  in  the  compounds  are  supplied  with  Bibles, 
printed  in  various  tribal  languages,  which  the  natives  are  taught 
to  read  by  missionaries.  At  any  and  all  times  De  Beers  Com- 
pounds are  open  to  these  teachers,  who  are  specially  delegated 
by  English  and  German  missionary  societies. 

When  a  "  boy "  is  once  moved  to  apply  his  mind  to  any 
study,  he  will  commonly  plod  on  persistently,  and  there  is  among 
the  natives  generally  an  unfeigned  respect  for  teachers,  and  pride 
in  the  attainment  of  any  advance  in  learning.  There  is  only  the 
crudest  notion  of  religion  in  the  minds  of  these  negroes,  and 
the  missionary  must  have  unwearied  patience  who  seeks  to 
impress  them  with  the  idea  of  an  invisible,  omnipotent,  omni- 
present God  and  Father  of  all.  It  is  very  difficult  for  the  mis- 
sionaries to  prove  by  the  Bible  that  these  savages  should  have 
only  one  wife,  and  this  has  been  a  great  stumbling-block  in 
teaching  them  Christianity.  The  native  argues  that,  if  he  has 
only  one  wife,she  is  continually  wrangling  with  him,  but  if  there 
are  two  or  more,  they  occupy  themselves  by  wrangling  with  one 
another.  And  again,  he  says,  the  more  wives  he  has,  the  more 
crops  he  can  raise.  The  women  do  all  the  work  at  the  kraals, 
and  the  men  idle  their  time  away  in  peace  and  plenty. 

The  preachers  at  the  compound  chapel  or  elsewhere  in  the 
compound  often  call  together  their  flocks  with  stirring  notes  of 
drum  and  trumpet,  and  at  gatherings  of  natives  lime-lights  and 
lantern  slides  are  also  effectively  used  in  vivid  and  telling  illus- 
trations. Sometimes  an  interpreter  stands  at  the  preacher's 
elbow,  to  make  his  meaning  clear  to  native  listeners,  for  the 
tribal  dialects  in  the  compound  are  like  the  confusion  of  tongues 
in  Babel.  The  missionaries  are  somewhat  vexed  by  the  Kafir 
"  doctors,"  who  keep  before  the  natives  the  vision  of  old  super- 
stitions, as  they  squat  on  the  ground  in  the  compounds,  sol- 


THE    WORKERS   IN   THE    MINES 


433 


emnly  laying  out  their  "bones"  and  muttering  incantations. 
They  are  so  tricky  with  their  impostures  that  it  is  difficult  to 
bring  any  of  them  patently  into  contempt. 

Almost  all  of  the  natives  are  fond  of  sport.  They  have 
plays  of  various  kinds  which  may  be  seen  every  day  in  the 
compound,  but  the  chief  show  is  naturally  on  Sunday,  the  holi- 
day for  all.  Then  a  number  of  the  tribes  put  on  their  native 
dresses,  and  there  are  vivid 
spectacles  of  native  dances, 
chants,  and  games.  The  Zu- 
lus often  arm  themselves  with 
clubs  or  wooden  assagais,  or 
any  long  canes  which  they  can 
brandish  and  strike  upon  their 
ox-hide  shields,  while  they 
circle  about  in  a  ring,  mark- 
ing time  with  a  stamp  of  the 
foot  that  makes  the  earth 
quake.  It  is  the  traditional 
report  that  no  one  is  admitted 
to  this  war  dance  who  has  not 
killed  a  man  ;  but  the  chances 
are  that,  in  recent  days,  un- 
questionable evidence  of  this 
qualification  is  not  strictly 
required.  Nevertheless,  the 
pretence  of  bloodthirstiness 
is  very  exciting,  as  warriors 
spring  forward,  one  after  another,  swinging  their  assagais  or  knob 
kerries,  and  advancing  their  shields,  while  they  show  a  pantomime 
of  attack  upon  an  imaginary  enemy  almost  as  vivid  and  thrilling 
as  actual  battle.  When  this  dance  begins,  a  circle  of  native  spec- 
tators gathers  about,  shouting  and  crying  with  the  passion  of  the 
scene,  till  the  noise  at  times  is  deafening.  Other  natives,  less 
particular  than  the  Zulus,  dance  about  in  rings  and  crescents, 
waving  any  kind  of  stick  in  their  hands,  from  a  miner's  candle- 


'Mshangaan  in  War  Attire. 


2  F 


434      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


THE   WORKERS   IN    THE   MINES 


435 


stick  to  a  twig  or  old  hatchet.  Among  these  figure  the  fantastic 
Machopis,  dancing  to  the  music  of  native  imbilas,  or  Basutos 
blowing  their  little  reed  or  bone  whistles  and  swaying  about  with 
strange  contortions,  accompanied  by  monotonous  tapping  on  a 
crude  drum  made  by  stretching  a  raw  ox-hide  over  the  end  of  a 
barrel.  The  'Mshangaans  chant  while  dancing,  but  the  Basutos 
are  not  gifted  with 
musical  voices  and 
have  no  evident 
ear  for  music,  al- 
though they  are 
so  fond  of  their 
own  harsh  and 
discordant  blow- 
ing that  they  will 
pipe  away  on  their 
hollow  bones  and 
dance  for  hours  at 
a  time  on  Sunday 
to  their  own  pip- 
ing. 

Among  the 
other  native  tribes 
there  are  many 
boys  with  fine 
voices,  sweet 
toned  or  robustly 
sonorous,  ranging 
from  the  highest  tenor  or  falsetto  to  the  deepest  bass ;  and  some 
are  readily  trained  to  part  singing.  In  De  Beers  and  other  of 
the  larger  compounds  there  are  native  choral  societies  under  the 
charge  of  white  instructors.  The  most  popular  songs  are  the 
familiar  American  negro  minstrel  and  concert  hall  melodies. 
These  are  freshly  ludicrous  to  one  who  pictures  the  black  singers 
"climbing  the  golden  ladder"  and  "wearing  the  golden  slipper" 
on  their  big  flat  feet.  The  climax  is  reached  when  the  high 


'Mshangaans  in  War  Paint. 


436       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

voices  sing,  "  What  are  you  goin'  to  wear  ?  "  and  the  reply  comes 
from  the  deep  bass  voices,  "  I'se  goin'  to  wear  a  standin'  collar." 
Native  African  chants  are  rarely  heard  in  the  compound,  except 
sometimes  as  an  accompaniment  of  native  dances. 

At  all  hours  of  the  day,  until  the  stir  and  buzz  throughout  the 
big  compound  are  hushed  in  the  sleep  of  its  thousands  of  inmates, 
the  rattling  and  humming  and  squeaking  of  imbilas  and  gubos, 
and  various  other  crude  instruments  of  native  fashioning,  are  to 
be  heard,  more  or  less  widespread.  The  "imbila"  is  the  same  as 
the  maninba  noted  by  Dr.  Livingstone  in  his  travels  in  Africa. 
In  the  native  villages  it  is  made  by  fixing  strips  of  board  across  dry 
calabashes.  By  grading  the  size  of  these  gourds,  different  notes 
are  produced  when  the  overlaid  strips  are  struck  by  a  drumstick 
with  an  elastic  gum  knob.  In  the  compounds  empty  dynamite 
boxes  with  tin  cans  fastened  underneath  the  strips  of  wood  sup- 
ply the  lack  of  calabashes,  and  the  striking  knob  is  imitated  by 
twisting  a  piece  of  rag  tightly  round  the  end  of  a  stick.  The 
native  "gubo,"  as  the  Zulus  call  it,  is  an  instrument  also  common 
throughout  South  Africa.  This  is  a  bow  of  bamboo  with  a  tightly 
stretched  string.  The  player  holds  the  end  of  the  bow  against 
his  parted  lips  with  one  hand  and  strikes  the  tight  string  with  a 
slip  of  split  bamboo.  A  peculiar  effect  is  obtained  in  playing  on 
this  bow  in  the  compound  by  attaching  a  calabash  to  the  back  of 
the  bow,  and  holding  this  improvised  sounding-board  against  the 
breast.  These  are  the  favorite  instruments,  but  there  are  others, 
like  the  bone  whistles  of  the  Basutos,  which  are  much  cruder,  and 
grate  far  more  harshly  on  the  ear  of  listening  white  men. 

That  the  native  African  has  an  inborn  fondness  for  music  is 
signally  shown  by  its  persistent  pursuit  in  the  compounds,  even 
through  refuse  boxes  and  bones.  It  may  advance  in  time,  with 
education,  to  high  artistic  appreciation  and  accomplishment. 
Even  at  its  present  barbaric  stage  the  Kafir  may  be  greatly 
moved  by  the  art  of  a  great  singer,  as  was  evident  when  Madame 
Albani  came  to  the  diamond  mines,  for  she  never  saw  an  audi- 
ence so  passionately  enraptured  as  the  black  men  massed  about 
her  within  the  walls  of  De  Beers  Compound. 


THE   WORKERS    IN   THE    MINES 


437 


438      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


A  Quiet  Game  of  Cards. 

There  would  probably  be  a  common  resort  to  gambling  as 
well  as  to  music,  if  the  practice  were  not  sharply  restricted  by 
the  compound  regulations  and  oversight.  It  was  necessary  to 
prohibit  the  playing  of  cards,  because  native  sharpers  were  fleec- 
ing the  tyros  too  unmercifully.  There  is  still,  probably,  some 
covert  card  playing,  for  many  of  the  natives  understand  a  few 
of  the  games  familiar  to  white  men.  Faro  was  played  with  the 
top  of  an  empty  dynamite  box  as  a  table,  upon  which  cards  were 
tacked.  The  game  was  probably  introduced  by  natives  from  the 
Portuguese  possessions.  The  native  African  has  only  a  few 
games  of  his  own  devising.  The  most  popular  of  these  in  the 
compounds,  and  Africa  at  large,  is  "umtshuba"  or  "chuba," 
the  Syrian  "mancala,"  or,  as  the  Nubians  call  it,  "Mungala." 
The  widespread  knowledge  of  this  game  is  noted  by  Schwein- 
furth  as  one  of  the  links  of  evidence  of  "  the  essential  unity  that 
underlies  all  African  nations  "  ;  and  it  has  been  shown  by  the 
investigations  of  Mr.  Stewart  Culin  for  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion of  the  United  States,1  and  by  other  reports,  that  the  same 

1  "Mancala,  the  National  Game  of  Africa,"  by  Stewart  Culin,  1896. 


THE    WORKERS    IN    THE    MINES 


439 


Natives  playing  Chuba. 


game  with  essential  variations  is  played  throughout  Africa  and 
extends  along  southern  Asia  as  far  as  the  Philippine  Islands. 
For  this  game  a  long  strip  of  board  is  provided,  edged  with  two 
parallel  rows  of  holes  scooped  in  the  wood.  When  a  board  can- 
not be  procured,  the  rows  of 
holes  are  made  in  the  ground. 
The  number  of  holes  in  a  row 
varies  widely,  the  Nubian 
"Mungala"  having  sixteen, 
while  the  board  common  on 
the  Diamond  Fields  has  from 
thirteen  to  seventeen  holes  and 
four  rows.  Each  player  has 
about  two  dozen  pebbles  in  hand,  and  the  play  is  in  shifting  the 
pebbles  from  one  hole  to  another.  Stanley  calls  the  game  an 

African  "  back- 
gammon," and 
speaks  of  the 
board  as  a 
"backgam- 
mon" tray.  The 
word  "  mun- 
gala"  is  of  Ara- 
bic origin,  de- 
rived from 
"  nagal,"  "  to 
carry  from  one 
place  to  an- 
other." There 
is  no  apparent 
interest  in  the 
game  to  the 

ordinary  white  man's  eye,  but  native  players  in  the  compounds 
and  African  negroes  generally  will  keep  on  moving  the  little 
stones  for  hours  at  a  time  with  evident  satisfaction,  taking  up 
their  opponents'  pebbles,  as  certain  combinations  occur,  until 


Natives  playing  Mancala. 


440      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

one   or   the   other  has  won  all.       The  spectators   usually  offer 
advice  to  the  players. 

There  is  some  running,  jumping,  and  wrestling  in  halting 
imitation  of  English  athletic  sports;  and  on  special  holidays,  like 
Christmas,  they  have  obstacle  races,  sack  races,  walking  the 
greased  pole,  which  lies  horizontally  over  the  swimming  bath, 
and  other  comical  features  for  the  general  amusement  of  the 
native  and  white  spectators.  But  the  workers  in  the  mines  are 
rarely  nimble  enough  to  figure  with  any  distinction  in  these 
sports,  and  the  only  English  games  that  can  be  called  popular  in 
the  compounds  are  the  counterfeit  of  cricket  and  football.  The 
native  wickets  are  made  of  empty  paraffin  tins,  and  the  fine  points 
of  the  game  are  not  in  evidence ;  but  there  is  plenty  of  hard 
swiping  and  sharp  bowling,  to  the  delight  of  the  native  players 
and  the  spectators.  Christmas  is  the  great  holiday  of  the  year 
for  all,  for  everybody  in  the  compound  then  receives  for  his 
Christmas  box  a  loaf  of  bread,  a  bottle  of  ginger  beer,  and  a  piece 
of  meat,  and  sports  of  various  kinds  are  specially  provided  for 


Swimming  Balh,  De  Beers  Compound. 


THE    WORKERS    IN    THE    MINES 


441 


Natives  smoking  Indian  Hemp. 

their  amusement.  Grabbing  and  diving  for  money  thrown  into 
the  swimming  bath  by  the  directors  and  managers  form  a  lucra- 
tive sport  for  the  natives,  and  amusement  for  the  lookers-on. 

At  every  gathering  for  dances,  sports,  or  games  of  any  kind 
there  are  more  lookers-on  than  participants,  for  the  African 
dearly  loves  a  spectacle  of  any  kind,  and  is  commonly  well 
pleased  to  stand  or  loll  on  the  ground  where  he  can  get  a  view 
of  the  contributors  to  his  entertainment.  Some  of  these  indolent 
ones  will  be  smoking  cheap  cigars,  and  more  rarely  pipes.  A 
native  usually  puts  the  lighted  end  of  a  cigar  in  his  mouth,  inhal- 
ing and  blowing  out  the  smoke,  and  shifting  the  hold  of  his  teeth 
as  the  tobacco  burns.  Sometimes  sets  of  boys  are  seen  squatting 
on  the  ground  and  passing  from  mouth  to  mouth  a  lighted  pipe 
filled  with  dry  dagga,  a  native  herb  similar  to  the  Indian  hemp, 
that  burns  with  pungent  and  stupefying  fumes.  The  natives 
inhale  the  smoke,  and,  after  a  few  puffs,  a  fit  of  violent  coughing 
comes  on  which  brings  tears  to  their  eyes.  The  use  of  this  herb 
is  not  so  extended  as  to  cause  any  serious  ill  effect,  but  the  native 
becomes  stupefied  for  a  time,  though  he  soon  recovers. 


< 
442      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

There  is  some  tribal  jealousy  and  vanity,  but  the  inmates  of 
the  compounds  live  together  on  good  terms,  as  a  rule.  In  their 
occasional  fights  they  use  bottles  or  stones  or  clubs,  or  anything 
they  can  lay  their  hands  on  quickly ;  but,  as  soon  as  the  guards 
come  up,  they  hurry  off  to  their  rooms,  where  they  are  put 
under  strict  oversight  for  a  time.  Even  these  short  encounters 
often  leave  many  with  sore  heads  and  bruised  bodies.  Only 
once  has  there  been  the  threat  of  a  serious  insurrection  in  the 
compound.  This  was  at  Christmas  time,  when  the  compound 
manager  was  absent  for  a  few  days.  After  the  usual  Sunday  holi- 
day several  hundred  natives,  chiefly  from  Kaffraria,  refused  to  go 
to  work  on  Monday  morning,  as  the  following  day  was  Christmas, 
demanding  the  grant  of  Monday  also  as  a  holiday.  I  went  at 
5  A.M.  to  the  compound  and  urged  the  leaders  of  the  strike  to 
take  their  followers  into  the  mines.  The  Basutos  were  willing 
to  support  me,  and  offered  to  drive  the  reluctant  Fingos,  or 
Amafengu,  underground.  After  some  protracted  but  ineffec- 
tive appeals,  I  sent  word  to  Mr.  Rhodes,  who  happened  to  be 
at  Kimberley,  that  the  Fingos  refused  to  go  to  work,  and  sug- 
gested that  he  might  come  over  and  try  his  persuasive  power 
on  them.  So  he  did,  but  after  an  hour  of  fruitless  parley- 
ing we  determined  to  try  the  demonstration  of  force,  for  the 
Fingos  not  only  refused  to  work  themselves,  but  barred  the 
other  natives  from  entering  the  mine.  As  they  numbered  from 
five  to  six  hundred,  they  were  rather  a  formidable  barrier  at  the 
underground  entrance. 

We  then  decided  to  call  in  the  assistance  of  the  police  and 
our  own  guards,  Mr.  Rhodes  riding  to  the  police  station,  while 
I  rode  to  a  station  where  a  number  of  extra  guards  were  posted. 
When  we  came  back  into  the  compound  with  a  force  of  fifteen 
men  armed  with  carbines,  the  Fingos  instantly  began  to  pelt  us 
with  bottles  and  stones,  and  anything  else  which  would  serve  as 
a  missile.  At  this  outbreak  I  asked  the  officer  in  charge  to  fire 
a  few  blank  shots  at  the  crowd  of  rioters,  and  in  less  than  a 
minute  there  was  not  a  native  to  be  seen  in  the  open  area  of  the 
compound,  for  all  scurried  off  like  frightened  sheep  to  their 


THE   WORKERS   IN   THE    MINES  443 

rooms.  We  then  went  around  the  compound,  picking  out  the 
ringleaders,  thirty-three  in  all,  ranged  them  in  line,  and  sent 
them  to  jail.  They  were  soon  brought  up  before  the  magistrate 
and  each  was  fined  ^3,  which  they  obtained  by  a  little  beg- 
ging from  their  brothers  in  the  compound.  Meanwhile,  it  was 
difficult  for  us  to  restrain  every  native  left  in  the  compound 
from  going  to  work  that  day  on  the  first  shift. 

After  the  ringleaders  came  back  to  the  compound,  they  wanted 
a  meal,  but  they  were  forced  to  go  underground  and  work  eight 
hours  before  any  food  was  provided.  Then  they  were  singled 
out  and  led  around  the  compound,  one  by  one,  as  an  exhibition 
or  warning  to  others,  before  they  were  finally  discharged  from 
the  employ  of  the  Company  and  sent  away  from  the  works. 
One  of  our  interpreters  had  been  taken  along  with  the  rioters 
by  mistake.  He  was  so  vociferous  that  some  one  put  him  in 
with  the  other  noisy  boys.  A  few  days  later,  when  I  wanted  an 
interpreter,  the  unlucky  one  said,  "  All  right,  Baas,  I  don't  mind 
interpreting  for  you,  but  I  don't  want  to  be  run  in  for  it." 

No  corporal  punishment  of  the  natives  by  white  employers 
is  allowed.  If  a  boy  is  unruly,  he  may  be  placed  in  a  room  by 
himself  until  he  can  be  taken  to  jail,  and  charged  with  whatever 
offence  he  has  committed.  The  most  common  offence  is  petty 
thieving.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  covert  purloining  of 
diamonds  would  be  a  frequent  practice,  and  cause  heavy  losses 
to  the  diamond  mining  companies,  if  it  were  not  for  the  com- 
pound system,  which  makes  it  impossible  for  natives  to  take  any 
diamonds  out  of  the  compounds  with  them. 

A  fine  wire  netting  is  stretched  over  the  top  of  the  com- 
pound to  prevent  the  sly  tossing  of  precious  crystals  over  the 
walls,  to  be  picked  up  by  confederates  outside  the  mining 
areas.  Precautions  are  also  taken  to  prevent  the  smuggling 
away  of  diamonds  from  the  compounds,  and  all  communication 
by  the  natives  with  persons  outside  the  walls  is  carefully 
restricted.  Until  the  expiration  of  his  contract,  no  native  can 
go  through  the  compound  gate,  except  by  special  permission, 
or  when  he  is  taken  under  guard  before  a  magistrate  for  some 


444       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


offence.  If  convicted,  when  his  term  of  imprisonment  expires, 
or  after  he  has  paid  his  fine,  he  must  return  to  the  compound 
and  complete  his  contract.  Before  leaving  the  compound  his 
clothes  and  person  are  thoroughly  searched  to  prevent  the  dis- 
appearance of  diamonds  with  them.  Gems  were  sometimes 
found  secreted  in  clothing,  or  shoe  heels,  or  canes,  or  cans  with 
false  bottoms,  in  fact,  in  anything  that  the  natives  were  allowed 
to  take  out  with  them.  Even  this  close  inspection  did  not  bar 

the  practice  of  steal- 
ing, and  there  was  an 
inexplicable  trickle 
of  fine  diamonds 
from  unlooked-for 
quarters,  until  it 
became  known  that 
natives  on  the  point 
of  leaving  the  com- 
pound were  swal- 
lowing diamonds 
and  conveying  them 
away. 

In  1895  one  na- 
tive had  the  nerve 
and  capacity  to  swal- 
low a  lot  of  dia- 
monds worth  ^750, 
and  did  not  appear 
to  suffer  by  this  strain  upon  his  digestion.  There  has  been  only 
one  authentic  instance  where  a  native  has  embedded  diamonds  in 
his  flesh  —  this  was  done  by  a  native  in  De  Beers  Convict  Station, 
who  made  an  incision  under  the  shin  bone  and  concealed  several 
small  diamonds  wrapped  in  a  rag.  This  native  had  symptoms  of 
tetanus,  and  the  visiting  physician  (Dr.  Otto)  searched  the  man's 
body,  and,  finding  an  ugly-looking  wound  on  his  leg,  cut  it  open, 
and  to  his  great  surprise  found  a  rag  full  of  diamonds.  The  na- 
tive soon  recovered,  a  wiser,  if  poorer,  man.  The  largest  yield 


Diamonds  which  a  Native  had  swallowed,  and  which  were 
recovered  by  the  Guards  in  the  Compound, 


DIAMONDS  SWALLOWED  BY  A  NATIVE  AT  ONE  TIME,  AND  ALL  RECOVERED 
AFTER  FOUR   DAYS.    TOTAL  WEIGHT,  348   CARATS;   VALUE,  £1067:4:6. 


446      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

of  diamonds  which  a  native   had   swallowed  is  represented  by 
the  illustration   on    page  445,  each  diamond   being  drawn   the 


Diamond  Thief. 


Diamond  Thief. 


exact   size    of    the    original.      There    is    no    apparent    fear    of 
swallowing  any  stone  which  can  be  forced  through  the  throat, 


Diamond  Thief. 


Diamond  Thief. 

and  in  one  instance  a  diamond  as  big  as  a  large  chestnut  and 
weighing  152  carats  was  hidden  for  over  seven  days  by  this 
means. 


THE    WORKERS    IN    THE    MINES 


447 


Diamond  Thief. 


The  swallowing  of  a  rough  diamond  is  evidently  so  easy, 
but  so  difficult  to  detect,  that  it  was  necessary  to  put  an  end  to 
the  practice  by  providing  a  longer 
period  of  detention  and  search. 
At  the  close  of  their  contracts,  na- 
tives whose  terms  of  service  have 
nearly  expired  are  placed  together 
in  a  commodious  room  capable  of 
holding  two  hundred  men  or  more. 
They  enter  this  room  entirely 
naked.  Their  clothes  and  bag- 
gage are  deposited  in  sacks  marked 
in  accordance  with  the  number  on 
the  arm  band.  Blankets  are  sup- 
plied for  clothing,  and  as  wraps 
when  sleeping.  They  are  fed,  and 
generally  well  cared  for,  free  of 
cost  to  themselves.  While  in  the  detention  room  they  are 
under  strict  supervision  of  white  guards,  so  that  any  diamonds 
they  may  have  swallowed  must  be  left 
behind  before  they  leave.  Natives  have 
been  known  to  keep  diamonds  in  their 
bodies  for  over  seven  days.  At  the 
end  of  five  days  of  detention,  generally 
on  Saturday  morning,  they  are  released. 
Meanwhile,  the  clothes  placed  in  the 
sacks  have  been  thoroughly  searched ; 
and  departing  natives  are  not  allowed 
to  take  away  with  them  anything  but 
soft  goods.  In  fact,  they  are  even  re- 
quired to  leave  their  boots  behind,  for 
cunning  smugglers  used  to  insert  dia- 
monds in  their  boot  heels  so  neatly  that 
the  trick  could  not  be  detected  without 


Diamond  Thief. 


cutting  away  the  greater  part  of  the  sole  of  the  boot.     Boots  and 
shoes,  and  other  articles  which  are  not  allowed  to  be  taken  from 


448        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


the  compound,  are  sold  or  given  away  to  customers  or  friends 
before  their  owners  leave. 

It  may  be  that  De  Beers  Compound  is  a  "  Monastery  of 
Labour,"  as  was  wittily  said  by  a  lady  visiting  the  fields  as  a 

correspondent  of  the  London  Times ; 
but  the  testimony  of  all  careful  ob- 
servers on  the  ground  affirms  the 
beneficial  effect  of  the  restrictions 
from  dissipation,  and  the  general 
good  cheer  of  the  workers.  Mr. 
Thomas  H.  Leggett,  an  entirely 
independent  and  competent  Ameri- 
can witness,  wrote  of  his  inspection 
of  the  men  in  the  compounds, 
in  Cassier's  Magazine,  September, 
1898  :  "These  chaps  are  well  cared 
for,  contented,  and  happy,  as  proven 
by  the  fact  that  many  have  been 
there  for  years ;  and  the  secret  of  it 
lies  in  their  not  being  able  to  get  drink." 

Occasionally  a  visitor  at  the  fields  is  less  observant  and  can- 
did. One  such  was  a  member  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  of 
Cape  Colony,  who  came  to  Kimberley  to  investigate  the  con- 
ditions of  life  and  treatment  of  the  natives  in  the  compound. 
On  arriving  at  De  Beers  Compound,  in  company  with  his  wife, 
he  first  impressed  upon  the  natives  whom  he  met  that  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Cape  Colony  Legislative  Council.  He  had  come 
to  the  fields  in  their  behalf,  and  he  wanted  them  to  tell  him 
freely  everything  of  which  they  had  to  complain.  With  the  aid 
of  an  interpreter  he  interviewed  a  number  of  natives  in  the  com- 
pound, asking  searching  questions  about  their  treatment.  One 
native  told  him  that  he  had  been  working  for  eight  years  in  the 
mines  and  had  been  outside  the  compound  only  three  or  four 
times  in  all  that  period.  When  asked  if  he  was  well  treated  in 
the  compound  his  answer  was,  "  If  I  didn't  like  it,  Baas,  I 
wouldn't  be  here."  The  visitor's  wife  meanwhile  kept  tugging 


Diamond  Thief. 


THE   WORKERS    IN   THE    MINES 


449 


at  his  coat  continually,  saying  in  Dutch,  "  They  treat  the  Kafirs 
altogether  too  well  here ;  they  will  be  spoiled  by  such  good  treat- 
ment as  this."  Before  leaving,  the  legislator  said  that  he  was 
glad  to  have  the  opportunity  to  inspect  fully  the  operations  of 
the  compound.  From  what  he  had  heard  he  had  been  much 
opposed  to  compounds,  but  he  now  saw  with  his  own  eyes  that 
he  was  wrongly  informed,  and  henceforth  he  should  be  a  strong 
advocate  of  the  system.  Yet  a  year  or  two  later,  when  ques- 
tions affecting  De  Beers  Company  and  the  compound  system 
arose  in  the  Upper  House,  this  gratified  member  was  one  of  the 
first  to  denounce  the  system  in  an  intemperate  speech. 


Ue  Beers  Machine  Shops. 


2G 


CHAPTER   XV 


THE    MINING    TOWNS 


Kimberley 

IMBERLEY,  the  largest  of  the  cluster  of  dia- 
mond towns  on  the  Fields,  is,  like  the  rest,  the 
natural  efflorescence  of  the  mines  near  which  it 
is  situated,  and  from  which  it  derives  its  birth 
and  being.  Its  mushroom  growth  must  have 
withered  like  so  many  other  pretentious  upstarts 
from  the  mining  fields,  had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  of  its  rising 
on  ground  of  such  sustained  richness  and  promise.  While  the 
diamond-studded  blue  ground  continues  to  show  a  persistent 
extension  in  depth  and  in  richness,  and  while  man's  energy  and 
art  avail  to  pierce  and  extract  it,  the  Kimberley  of  the  surface 
will  surely  continue  to  flourish. 

It  might  indeed  be  said,  without  any  stretch  of  imagery,  that 
the  modern  Kimberley  is  literally  as  well  as  essentially  built  up 
on  the  yield  of  the  mines.  This  has  been  brightly  noted  by  the 
late  Rev.  James  Thompson  in  his  pleasing  sketch  of  the  modern 
Kimberley.  "Kimberley,  as  we  know  it,"  he  says,  "with  its 
streets  and  warehouses,  and  shops  and  schools  and  churches,  is 
largely  built  upon  that  strange  mixture  known  as  debris,  every 
atom  of  which  has  a  story  to  tell  if  it  could  only  speak.  As  in 
any  English  town  you  can  go  down  foot  after  foot  through  the 
different  strata  representing  the  pavements  or  pathways  upon 
which  successive  generations  of  ancestors  pressed  their  feet ;  so 
in  Kimberley  we  have  beneath  the  present  surface  of  our  road- 
ways the  red  soil  on  which  our  fathers  pitched  their  tents,  and 
which  their  labor  soon  covered  up  by  spreading  out  all  around 
them  the  heaps  thrown  out  of  that  great  hole  which  now  looks 

45° 


THE   MINING   TOWNS 


so  desolate,  but  which  was  once  the  centre  of  activity  and  throb- 
bing life  which  made  Kimberley  famous  throughout  the  world." ' 
Dr.  Thompson  marks  the  middle  age  of  Kimberley  as  the 
period  when  decent  buildings  of  iron  and  wood,  with  here  and 
there  more  pretentious  brick,  had  replaced  the  age  of  canvas ; 
but  when  there  were  no  softening  or  beautifying  surroundings, 
when  every  tree  and  bush  had  been  cut  down,  and  when  the 
veld  once  dotted  with  thorn  trees  had  become  a  vast  expanse 


Snow  in  Kimberley,  1876. 

of  wind-swept  dust  as  gray  as  the  iron  dwelling  places  which 
alone  seemed  to  convert  the  desert  into  a  town.  This  was  the 
period  preceding  the  introduction  of  an  abundant  and  pure 
water-supply  that  wrought  such  a  transformation  in  the  appear- 
ance of  the  city.  Now  the  upspringing  of  flowers  of  varied  hue, 
and  green  thickets  and  vines  and  trees  in  the  gardens  that  now 
surround  nearly  every  house  in  town  outside  the  business 
quarter,  has  made  during  many  months  of  the  year  a  beautiful 
country  town  of  the  old  and  barren  Kimberley. 

In  spite  of  the  visible  yield  of  the  mines  and  the  consequent 
prosperity  of  the  town  there  was,  for  many  years,  a  prevailing 
1  Christmas  number,  D.  F.  Advertiser,  1898. 


452       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Theatre  Roval. 


distrust  of  the  permanency  of  the  diamond-bearing  deposits  and 
the  consequent  stability  and  future  of  the  city  that  was  founded 
upon  them.  But  later,  as  systematic  development  gave  sub- 
stantial assurance  of  the  endurance  of  the  mines,  the  advance  in 
the  architectural  beauty  of  the  residences  and  public  buildings  in 
Kimberley  has  been  marked.  Now  many  of  the  residences  of 
the  more  wealthy  townspeople  are  not  only  substantial,  but  dis- 
tinctly ornate  in  character,  with  widespreading  verandas  rising 
in  the  midst  of  green  lawns  and  lovely  gardens.  Some  of  the 
public  buildings  already  erected  or  in  process  of  erection  need 
not  fear  comparison  with  any  like  structures  in  any  city  of  its 
size  in  the  world. 


THE   MINING   TOWNS 


453 


Among  these  structures  is  a  handsome  and  well-appointed 
theatre,  built  of  burnt  brick  with  stone  facings,  excellently  situ- 
ated for  the  accommodation  of  theatre  goers.  This  building,  the 
Theatre  Royal,  was  designed  to  introduce  all  the  latest  improve- 
ments in  theatrical  construction,  and  its  acoustic  properties  are 
particularly  fine.  The  commodious  stage  has  a  face  of  54  feet 
and  a  depth  of  38  feet,  and  is  so  arranged  that  the  whole  stage  is 


Theatre  Royal  Interior. 

in  full  view  of  the  audience  in  the  box  stalls,  dress  circle,  family 
circle,  and  gallery.  The  theatre  is  lighted  by  electricity,  and  its 
fire  exits  are  so  complete  and  well  placed  that  in  case  of  need 
the  whole  audience  could  leave  in  a  very  few  minutes. 

The  Town  Hall  is  another  building  that  deserves  special 
mention.  It  was  erected  by  resolution  of  the  borough  council 
on  the  Market  Square  after  the  destruction  by  fire  of  the  old 
town  hall.  This  building  is  designed  in  the  Roman-Corinthian 
style  and  its  appearance  is  notably  pleasing.  Its  site  is  in  the 


454        THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


centre  of  the  Market  Square,  a  particularly  convenient  position. 

There  are  three  entrances  to  the  main  hall,  which  is  finely  pro- 
portioned,—  105  feet  in 
length,  50  feet  in  width, 
and  35  feet  in  height.  At 
one  end  there  is  a  stage 
25  feet  wide,  and  a  hand- 
some proscenium  and 
space  for  the  orchestra  is 
also  provided. 

There  are  emergency 

The  Town  Hall.  •  •  •    ,        , 

exits   opening   into   large 

yards  that  afford  abundant  protection  in  the  event  of  the  out- 
break of  fire.  Passages  along  the  building  lead  to  suitable  ad- 
ministration offices  for  the  borough  engineer,  market  master, 


Dutoitspan  Road,  Kimberley. 


sanitary  inspector,  and  native  officials.  At  the  back  of  the  main 
hall  extends  the  market  house,  over  83  feet  wide  and  running 
the  full  width  of  the  building.  In  the  east  wing  of  the  building 
is  a  council  chamber,  50  feet  long  by  26  feet  wide,  and,  opening 


THE    MINING   TOWNS 


455 


Kimberloy  Hospital. 

out  of  the  chamber,  rooms  for  the  mayor  and  councillors.  In 
the  other  wing  of  the  building,  accommodation  is  provided  for 
the  town  clerk  and  his  assistants.  The  building  is  substantially 
constructed  of  the  best  burnt  brick  covered  with  cement  and 
enriched  with  cornices. 

On  the  site  of  the  old  Kimberley  Hospital,  established  in 
1871,  a  new  and  spacious  building  has  been  erected,  with  sev- 


The  Kimberley  Club. 


456      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AERICA 

eral  outlying  wards.  The  main  building,  about  three  hundred 
feet  long,  contains  the  operating  rooms,  convalescent  room, 
and  the  Merriam,  Victoria,  and  Lanyon  wards  for  the  reception 


Hall  of  Kimberley  Club. 


of  European  patients  only.  The  detached  buildings  comprise 
native  medical  and  surgical  wards,  each  containing  fifty  beds ; 
the  Southey  ward  for  colored  women  and  children ;  and  isolation 


THE    MINING    TOWNS 


457 


wards  for  infectious  cases  ;  male  and  female  contagious  disease 
wards,  and  mortuaries.  The  offices  of  the  resident  officials,  a 
dispensary  and  doctors'  quarters,  nurses'  home  and  chapel,  with 
a  further  provision  of  European  and  native  kitchens,  make  the 
hospital  complete  and  comfortable.  This  hospital  has  accom- 
modations for  250  patients,  European  and  colored,  and  from 
the  day  of  its 
erection  it  has 
been  of  indispen- 
sable service. 
During  the  single 
year  of  1897, 
2683  patients 
were  admitted, 
798  of  whom  were 
Europeans,  and 
the  remainder  na- 
tives and  persons 
of  color.  Six  hun- 
dred and  sixty- 
three  patients 
were  admitted 
free,  or  on  sub- 
scribers' letters. 
Besides  this  ser- 
vice it  should  be 
noted  that  the 
number  of  day 
patients  treated  during  the  same  year  was  1220;  one  of  the  hos- 
pital doctors  is  in  attendance  in  the  day-patients'  room  for  an 
hour  every  morning  to  give  advice  without  charge  to  the  poor. 
To  all  who  cannot  afford  to  pay  for  treatment,  medicines  are  fur- 
nished free.  Every  subscriber  is  entitled  to  give  a  letter  of  ad- 
mission to  one  patient  for  every  £1  2s.  subscribed,  upon  the  sole 
stipulation  that  the  person  receiving  the  letter  must  be  too  poor 
to  pay  for  his  or  her  own  treatment.  The  staff  of  the  hospital 


Horns  of  South  African  Antelope. 


458       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


consists  of  two  resident  house  surgeons  and  a  visiting  body  of 
seven  local  practitioners.  The  matron  and  forty-two  nurses  con- 
stitute the  nursing  staff.  A  recent  addition  has  been  made  to 
the  original  hospital,  in  which  will  be  the  maternity  ward,  for  the 
sake  of  providing  the  needed  accommodation  and  the  training 
of  experienced  midwives.  The  cost  of  this  hospital  with  its 

enlargements  has 
been  upwards  of 
/3  0,000. 

The  Kimberley 
Club  has  a  commo- 
dious and  finely 
furnished  house  on 
Dutoitspan  Road. 
This  building  was 
erected  in  1896  on 
the  ashes  of  two 
predecessors  which 
had  been  unfortu- 
nately destroyed  by 
fire.  It  possesses 
a  unique  collection 
of  trophies  of  the 
chase,  and  its  list  of 
visitors  bears  the 
name  of  many  of 
the  most  notable 
men  in  the  British 
Empire. 

Besides  these  structures  a  government  building  of  massive 
stone  and  brick  on  the  north  side  of  the  Market  Square  de- 
serves mention  as  one  of  the  conspicuous  edifices  in  the  city. 
Here  the  High  Court  of  Griqualand  is  held.  The  magis- 
trates' courts  are  arranged  on  either  side  of  the  entrance,  and 
rooms  are  provided  for  the  Civil  Commissioner,  Judges,  and 
Magistrates. 


Horns  of  South  African  Antelope. 


THE   MINING   TOWNS 


459 


The  Kimberley  Public  Library  is  a  well-built  building,  con- 
taining three  large  rooms,  of  which  one  is  free  to  the  public,  and 
the  others  reserved  for  subscribers.  Smaller  rooms  are  provided 
for  the  librarian  and  committee.  It  is  especially  notable  for  its 
remarkable  store  of  reference  works,  which  is  esteemed  to  be  the 
best  in  South  Africa.  It  contains  in  all  twenty-two  thousand 
books,  many  of 
which  would  be 
irreplaceable  if 
destroyed.  The 
building  up  of  this 
library  is  justly 
credited  to  the 
fostering  care  of 
Mr.  Justice  Law- 
rence, the  Judge 
President. 

Midway  be- 
tween Kimberley 
and  Beaconsfield 
stands  the  Kim- 
berley Sanatorium, 
a  superb  structure 
erected  by  the 
liberal  contribu- 
tions of  De  Beers 
Consolidated 
Mines  Limited  at 
a  cost,  with  its  fur- 
nishings, of  ^"26,000.  Its  fine  enclosing  grounds,  the  gift  of 
the  London  and  South  African  Exploration  Company,  were 
artistically  laid  out  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Fenner  of  the 
De  Beers  Forestry  Department.  The  larger  part  of  the  build- 
ing is  designed  for  the  accommodation  of  guests,  and  the  smaller 
block  contains  the  billiard  room,  smoking  room,  kitchen,  ser- 
vants' and  store  rooms.  The  buildings  are  of  burnt  brick,  two 


Horns  of  South  African  Antelope. 


460       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


stories  in  height,  with  ample  verandas  and  balconies ;  all  the 
rooms  are  large,  lofty,  and  handsomely  furnished,  and  in  the 
construction  the  best  sanitary  knowledge  has  been  applied. 
The  building  is  lighted  throughout  by  electricity,  and  abundantly 
supplied  with  pure  water. 

The  Masonic  Temple  was  erected  in  1889  by  the  combined 
lodges   of  the   city.      Its   main   hall  is  spacious  and  admirably 

lighted  by  elec- 
tricity, and  the  in- 
terior throughout 
is  very  handsomely 
decorated  and  fur- 
nished. At  the 
top  of  the  staircase 
there  is  one  of  the 
finest  stained  glass 
windows  in  South 
Africa,  which  was 
presented  to  the 
lodges  by  Mr. 
Rhodes. 

The  post-of- 
fice, police  bar- 
racks, and  railway 
station  have  no 
special  pretension 
to  architectural 
beauty,  but  they 
are  serviceable 
The  offices 


Horns  of  South  African  Antelope. 

structures  for  the  uses  to  which  they  are  applied, 
of  the  De  Beers  Company  are  in  the  centre  of  the  business  sec- 
tion of  the  town,  and  are,  as  might  be  expected,  excellently 
designed  buildings,  and  stand  out  notably  among  the  business 
edifices  that  surround  them. 

The  South  African  School  of  Mines  was  established  at  Kim- 
berley  in  1896.     The  first  two  years'  studies  are  taken  at  the 


THE    MINING   TOWNS 


461 


South  African  College,  Cape  Town,  or  at  similar  colleges  at 
Grahamstown  and  Stellenbosch,  the  third  year  at  Kimberley, 
and  the  fourth  at  Johannesburg.  The  object  of  the  school  is  to 
train  young  men  in  South  Africa  as  mining  engineers.  Suitable 
buildings  were  erected  at  Kimberley  at  a  cost  of  ^9000,  De 
Beers  contributing  on  the  pound  for  pound  principle  with  the 
Educational  Depart- 
ment of  the  Colony. 
There  were  twenty 
students  in  attendance 
during  the  year  1901. 
De  Beers  mines  and 
workshops  are  open 
to  the  students,  where 
they  are  given  practi- 
cal instruction  in  min- 
ing and  mechanical 
engineering.  Their 
theoretical  training  is 
under  the  supervision 
of  Professor  J.  G. 
Lawn,  assisted  by 
Professor  Orr.  The 
management  of  the 
school  is  entrusted  to 
a  local  committee, 
consisting  of  the  four 
members  of  Parlia- 
ment representing  the 
Kimberley  district,  the  member  of  the  Legislative  Council  for 
Griqualand  West,  the  Inspector  of  Mines,  the  Mayors  of  Kim- 
berley and  Beaconsfield,  the  Chairman  of  the  Public  Schools 
Committee,  and  myself.  I  have  the  honor  of  being  chairman 
of  this  committee. 

There  are  six  distinct  church  establishments  in  Kimberley, 
—  the  Anglican,  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Roman   Catholic,  Wes- 


Horns  of  South  African  Antelope. 


462      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OE   SOUTH   AFRICA 


Professor  J.  G.  Lawn,  Kimberley 
School  of  Mines. 


leyan  Methodist,  and  Griqualand 
West  Hebrew  Congregation.  The 
Anglican  denomination  has  three 
churches  in  Kimberley,  St.  Cyprian's, 
St.  Augustine's,  and  De  Beers,  besides 
churches  at  Beaconsfield  and  at  St. 
Matthew's,  Barkly  Road.  The  larg- 
est church  provides  accommodation 
for  650  attendants.  The  first  edifice 
of  the  Church  of  England  was  built 
at  Dutoitspan,  the  pioneer  town  on 
the  fields,  and  subsequently  trans- 
ferred to  Beaconsfield.  When  Kim- 
berley became  the  principal  city  of  population,  St.  Cyprian's 
Church  was  erected  on  Church  Street  and  removed  to  its  present 
position  in  1878.  Kimberley  became  part  of  the  diocese  of  Bloem- 
fontein,  and 
gave  its  name 
to  an  Archdea- 
conry compris- 
ing Griqualand 
West  and  Be- 
chu  analan  d. 
The  Archdea- 
con of  Kim- 
berley is  the 
head  of  the 
church  organi- 
zation in  this 
part  of  the  dio- 
cese. 

The    Kim- 

berley     Presbv-  Professor  Orr,  Kimberley  School  of  Mines. 

terian  Church  was  founded  in  September,  1877,  and  has  over 
four  hundred  enrolled  communicants  and  a  still  larger  number 
of  adherents. 


THE   MINING   TOWNS 


463 


Sir  Alfred  Milner  passing  the  Offices  of  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited  on  his  First  Visit 

to  Kimberley, 


De  Beers  Offices  decorated  in  Honor  of  the  Governor's  Visit. 


464       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Kimberley  Public  Library. 


In  1889  the  Rev.  James  Hughes,  of  Port  Elizabeth,  at  the 
invitation  of  the  Baptist  Union  of  South  Africa,  came  to  the 
Diamond  Fields  and  held  the  first  denominational  meetings  in 
the  Good  Templars  Hall  in  Kimberley.  Through  his  efforts  a 


The  Sanatorium. 


church  was  formed,  and  in  1892  the  foundation  stone  of  the 
present  commodious  Baptist  Church  in  Dutoitspan  Road  was 
laid. 


THE    MINING   TOWNS 


465 


The  foundation  stone  of  St.  Mary's  Roman  Catholic  Church 
was  laid  on  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  1879,  by  the  Vicar  Apostolic 
of  Natal  and  Griqualand  West.  For  many  years  previously 
a  Catholic  Church  had  been  maintained  on  the  fields,  but  its 
building  was  too  small  for  the  growing  congregation.  The 
foundations  of  the  new  building  had  just  been  completed,  in 
August,  1879,  when  the  old  building  was  levelled  to  the  ground 
by  a  terrific  hail-storm.  This  was  looked  upon  as  a  significant 


Masonic  Temple. 

warning  to  replace  the  iron  sides  of  the  new  church  with  brick, 
and  the  present  edifice  was  accordingly  erected,  which  will 
accommodate  about  five  hundred  people.  It  is  adorned  with 
stained  glass  windows,  paintings,  and  oak  altar  and  reredos,  the 
gifts  of  its  parishioners. 

Wesleyan  Methodist  missionaries  were  probably  the  first  to 
visit  the  River  Diggings  in  1869,  and  representatives  of  this 
energetic  denomination  were  among  the  first  also  that  flocked 
to  the  Dry  Diggings  at  Dutoitspan  and  Kimberley.  The  first 
regularly  appointed  minister  of  this  church  came  in  1871,  and 


2  H 


466       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


the  succession  since  that  year  has  been  unbroken.  The  Metho- 
dists erected  their  first  church  at  the  West  End,  but  as  the 
town  moved  eastward,  a  new  church,  Trinity,  was  built  to  meet 


. 


The  Post-office,  Kimberley. 

the  call  from  that  quarter.  The  original  Trinity  Church  was 
blown  down  by  one  of  the  fierce  gales  sweeping  over  the  Fields, 
but  a  second  Trinity  has  now  taken  its  place.  There  are  now 
in  Kimberley  three  Wesleyan  churches  for  whites,  two  for 
natives,  and  one  for  other  people  of  color,  and  a  missionary 

is  in  daily  attend- 
ance at  the  com- 
pounds. It  is  esti- 
mated that  there 
are  probably  not 
less  than  three 
thousand  persons 
under  the  charge 
of  these  seven  min- 
isters. At  a  very 

Nazareth  House,  Kimberley.  .         ,  .  . 

early  date    in    the 

history  of  the  Fields  the  foundation  stone  of  the  Hebrew 
Synagogue  was  laid  on  the  Dutoitspan  Road,  occupying  a  site 
donated  by  the  London  and  South  Africa  Exploration  Com- 
pany. 


OF  r    . 

»:./fO  4*2.- 


THE    MINING   TOWNS 


467 


The  Author's  House  at  Kimberley.    Wistaria  in  Bloom. 


Another  View  of  the  Author's  House  and  Garden. 


468       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Experience  has  shown  that  Kim- 
berley  has  special  attractions  as  a 
health  resort  in  spite  of  the  occasional 
intense  heat  of  its  summer  days  and 
the  blasts  of  its  high  winds  laden  with 
dust.  It  has  the  pure  atmosphere  of 
the  high  karoo  plateau,  and  even  in  the 
hottest  days  the  bright  starlight  even- 
ings are  usually  cool  and  refreshing, 
inviting  the  people  to  live  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  in  the  open  air 
on  verandas  and  balconies.  During 
the  winter  months  the  nights  are  often 
extremely  cold,  and  well  protected 
dwelling  rooms  are  essential  for  com- 
fort and  health ;  but  during  the  day  the  atmosphere  is  commonly 
clear,  and  so  still  that  the  severity  of  the  cold  is  not  felt,  and  all 
kinds  of  active  outdoor  exercise  are  agreeable  in  the  bright  sun- 
light of  the  unclouded  skies.  It  is  noted  by  the  medical  officer 
of  health  in  Kimberley  that  the  number  of  days  of  unbroken 


"Smell  my  Flowers."  (The  au- 
thor's daughter,  Dorothy,  and 
Jim,  a  good  specimen  of  Basuto 
boy.) 


Kimberley  Race  Course. 


THE    MINING   TOWNS 


469 


miij!!!!}!!!!"1 •»!'»" 


The  Grand  Stand,  Kiniberley  Race  Course. 

sunshine  are  particularly  enjoyable  to  newcomers.  They  will  find 
that  the  air  they  breathe  is  never  heavy,  damp,  or  oppressive, 
but  always  dry  and  light,  and,  outside  of  the  centre  of  the  town, 
pure  and  invigorating.  The  heavy  thunderstorms  that  occa- 
sionally occur  bring  deluges  of  rain,  but  the  water  rapidly  flows 
off  the  surface,  and  as  vegetation  is  scanty,  the  soil  remains 
exceptionally  dry. 

It  is  this  marked  climatic  attraction  which,  in  connection  with 
the  pleasure  resorts  of  the  city,  suggested  the  establishment  of  the 
Kimberley  Sanatorium. 

Beaconsfield 

Dutoitspan,  as  before  noted,  was  the  original  town  on  the 
Diamond  Fields.  When  crowds  flocked  to  the  Fields  and  a 
demand  for  greater  accommodation  arose,  the  London  and 
South  Africa  Exploration  Company  laid  out  the  town  of 
Beaconsfield,  which  adjoins  Dutoitspan  on  the  north.  It  was 
laid  out  as  a  business  town,  and  has  grown  to  be  a  place  of 


470      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

considerable  size  containing  several  thousand  inhabitants.  The 
town  limits  extend  to  the  farm  Dorstfontein,  but  the  business 
and  residence  quarters  are  all  within  the  farm  Bultfontein.  The 
main  street  in  Beaconsfield  leads  direct  to  Kimberley.  Many 
of  the  houses  are  of  brick  and  iron,  but  the  larger  number  are 
of  unburned  adobe  brick,  made  of  clay  dug  directly  from  the 
soil  on  which  the  house  stands.  With  few  exceptions  all  are 
unpretentious,  one-story  buildings. 

The  town  originally  belonged  to  the  London  and  South 
Africa  Exploration  Company,  the  organization  which  laid  out  the 
town,  but  together  with  all  that  company's  property  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  De  Beers  Company  in  1898.  According  to 
the  common  practice  houses  are  put  up  by  the  tenants  on  lots 
leased  from  the  Company.  Beaconsfield  is  laid  out  in  wards, 
and  has  a  distinctive  Municipal  Government  of  its  own,  consist- 
ing of  a  Mayor  and  Town  Council  and  the  usual  town  officers. 
The  Mayor  is  a  member  of  the  Council  and  elected  annually. 
Although  Beaconsfield  has  thus  a  distinctive  individuality,  the 
business  firms  are  very  largely  branches  of  corresponding  firms 
in  Kimberley.  The  town  transacts  considerable  business,  chiefly 
in  stocks  which  are  carried  for  the  use  of  the  mines ;  but  there  is 
also  a  large  number  of  shops  which  carry  supplies  of  all  kinds 
for  the  consumption  of  the  white  residents  as  well  as  for  the 
native  population  which  lives  in  locations  near  the  town. 

Wesselton 

Close  adjoining  to  Beaconsfield  lies  the  little  village  of  Wes- 
selton. This  was  laid  out  by  the  owner  of  the  Wessels  estate 
on  Benaauwdheidsfontein  farm.  Its  buildings  resemble  those 
of  Beaconsfield,  but  are  commonly  of  a  poorer  order  of  adobe 
brick  structures,  built  like  the  Beaconsfield  houses  on  leased  lots. 
Wesselton  has  now  only  a  few  hundred  inhabitants,  mostly 
natives  and  East  Indians.  The  natives  are  chiefly  workers  for 
debris  washers  about  Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein  mines,  while  the 
East  Indians  are  commonly  kitchen  gardeners  and  small  shop- 


THE    MINING   TOWNS 


471 


keepers  and  pedlers.  The  various  vegetables  that  are  raised 
are  sold  in  the  little  greengrocer  stores,  or  hawked  about  by  the 
pedlers  in  handcarts.  Some  of  the  East  Indians  also  peddle 
clothing  and  knickknacks  more  or  less  industriously. 


Kenilworth 

On  Kenilworth  farm,  about  two  and  a  half  miles  from  Kim- 
berley,  the  so-called  model   village  of  Kenilworth  is  built.     This 


Bachelors'  Quarters,  Kenilworth  Village. 

village  was  planned  in  the  latter  part  of  1888  by  Mr.  Rhodes, 
and  laid  out  under  his  general  direction  by  the  late  Mr.  Sydney 
Stent,  an  architect  then  residing  in  Kimberley.  It  covers  a 
space  about  half  a  mile  long  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  upon 
land  owned  by  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines. 

The  land  was  divided  up  into  lots  of  about  80  by  100  feet, 
and  upon  these  lots  semi-detached  houses  were  built,  of  brick 
with  corrugated  iron  roofs,  by  De  Beers  Company.  Nearly  all 
of  the  houses  are  built  of  red  burnt  brick  made  at  the  brick- 


472      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

fields  in  the   neighborhood  of  Kimberley.     The  cottages   rent 
from  £1   IQS.  to  ^5  a  month.     The  houses  occupied  by  the 


Passenger  Train  for  Workmen  and  their  Families. 

unmarried  men  contain  six  rooms,  and  the  other  houses  occupied 
by  families  contain  from  four  to  seven  rooms.  In  the  unmarried 
men's  quarters  each  occupant  has  a  room  to  himself.  Nearly 


The  Road  to  Kenilworth,  and  Kenilworth  Reservoir. 

all  of  the  houses  are  built  with  verandas,  and  all  the  lots  are 
planted  with  fruit  trees,  vines,  and  flowers,  supplied  by  the 
Company.  Most  of  the  residents  take  a  keen  interest  in  their 


THE   MINING  TOWNS 


473 


gardens  and  have  added  largely  to  their  beauty  by  purchasing 
plants  on  their  own  account.  In  laying  out  the  town,  the  vil- 
lage was  originally  planned  with  four  main  avenues,  bounded  on 
the  north  by  a  bordering  avenue,  on  the  south  by  the  main 
road  to  Kimberley,  and  intersected  by  a  central  avenue.  Only 
two  of  the  avenues  are  at  present  completed.  They  are  broad, 
well-made  roads  lined  with  blue  and  red  eucalyptus,  beefwood 
and  pepper  trees,  and  provided  with  wide  sidewalks  fronting 
the  semi-detached  villa-like  residences.  These  avenues  are  finely 
macadamized  and  the  streets  watered  by  distributing  carts. 


Kenilworth  Club-house. 

Supply  pipes  are  laid  out  along  the  streets  and  every  garden  is 
supplied  with  free  water  for  irrigation  from  the  Premier  mine  or 
Kenilworth  reservoir.  Separate  pipes  are  laid  to  carry  water  for 
drinking  purposes,  and  for  this  water  a  light  charge  is  made, 
averaging  about  los.  for  1500  gallons. 

A  circle  at  the  junction  of  No.  i  and  Central  Avenues 
divides  the  residences  of  the  married  people  from  the  quarters  of 
the  single  men,  who  occupy  a  row  of  houses  on  the  south  side  of 
the  circle  in  the  heart  of  the  village.  One  of  the  main  houses 
on  this  circle  is  occupied  by  the  Cape  Government  for  a  post- 
office,  telegraph-office,  and  post-office  savings  bank.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  circle  bordering  on  the  central  avenue  is  a  club- 


474      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

house,  a  large  brick  building  containing  a  reading  room,  dining 
room,  kitchen,  and  manager's  rooms.  This  building,  like  the 
residences,  has  a  veranda  in  front,  and  is  surrounded  by  trees. 
It  is  open  to  any  white  employe  of  the  Company,  but  it  is,  of 


Kenilworth  Village,  the  School  in  the  Foreground. 

course,  principally  used  by  those  living  in  Kenilworth.  Citizens 
of  Kimberley  may  visit  it,  and  join  in  the  social  gatherings 
arranged  by  the  residents  in  the  village.  On  the  north  side  of 
Central  Avenue,  opposite  the  club-house,  is  a  schoolhouse  con- 
taining three  rooms,  in  which  the  library  of  the  town  is  placed, 
and  this  is  open  after  school  hours  for  the  distribution  of  books. 
The  library  has  its  own  store  of  good  books,  but  in  addition  to 
this  stock,  the  Kimberley  library  contributes  books  by  special 
arrangement,  and  it  is  practically  operated  as  a  branch  of  the 
Kimberley  library.  The  school  of  Kenilworth  is  a  primary 
school  connected  with  the  Kimberley  public  schools,  and  the 
children  of  the  village  are  taught  the  usual  elementary  studies 
ranging  up  to  the  common  English  grammar  school.  When 
this  grade  is  attained,  arrangement  is  made  for  the  attendance  of 


THE   MINING   TOWNS 


475 


the  children  at  the  higher  schools  in  Kimberley.  To  assist  them, 
the  Company  provides  free  monthly  tickets  to  and  from  Kenil- 
worth  via  the  Kimberley-Kenilworth  tram  line. 

The  village  is  wholly  given  up  to  residences  ;  there  are  no 
stores  or  shops  of  any  kind.  All  supplies  come  from  Kimberley, 
and  by  special  arrangement  the  schoolhouse  is  used  on  Sundays 
for  worship  and  mission  work,  and  on  evenings  during  the 
week  by  the  various  philanthropic  and  social  organizations. 
The  village  is  lighted  by  a  few  large  arc  lamps,  and  the  houses 
by  paraffin  candles  and  kerosene. 

Arrangements  are  made  by  which  the  unmarried  men  take 
their  meals  at  the  club-house  at  a  cost  averaging  about  255.  a 


Kenilworth  Village,  with  Meteorological  Station  on  the  Left. 

week.  The  men  come  in  from  their  work  to  dinner,  which  they 
take  in  the  dining  rooms  of  the  club  ;  their  breakfast  and  lunches 
are  sent  out  to  the  depositing  floors  or  other  places  of  work. 
The  breakfast  at  the  club  is  like  that  served  at  the  better  class 
of  miners'  boarding  houses  at  Kimberley,  consisting  of  bacon 
and  eggs,  chops,  or  steaks,  or  other  substantial  dish,  bread  and 


476      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

butter,  coffee  or  tea.  Lunch  consists  usually  of  a  meat  dish 
with  bread,  vegetables,  fruit,  and  tea  or  coffee.  Dinner  is  the 
main  meal,  at  which  roast  beef,  roast  mutton,  and  vegetables 
of  all  kinds  are  served. 

The  shade  and  fruit  trees  of  Kenilworth  and  adjoining  plan- 
tations are  the  special  pride  of  the  village  and  of  the  De  Beers 
Company,  which  has  been  indefatigable  in  introducing,  acclima- 
tizing, and  maintaining  every  variety  that  will  thrive.  Just 


View  of  Kenilworth  Village. 

adjoining  Kenilworth  on  the  north  is  the  orchard  of  the  Com- 
pany, containing  about  8000  trees,  —  oranges,  lemons,  apricots, 
peaches,  plums,  pears,  apples,  quinces,  and  other  fruits,  as  well  as 
shade  trees  and  grapevines.  Most  of  the  grapevines  are  trained  on 
trellises.  The  first  one  built  by  the  Company  was  975,  and  the 
second  1 800,  feet  long.  On  these  trellises  all  the  best  varieties 
of  grapes  are  grown.  The  ripening  season  is  from  the  end  of 
December  until  the  end  of  February,  or  during  the  summer 
months  of  a  season  stretching  from  October  to  May.  Grapes 
and  fruit  from  these  orchards  are  largely  distributed  to  employes, 


THE    MINING   TOWNS 


477 


and  sent  to  hospitals  and  charitable  institutions.  Some  fruit  is 
sold  in  the  compounds  to  natives  at  a  price  hardly  reaching  the 
cost  of  production.  At  times  apricots  have  been  sold  at  a  shil- 
ling a  hundred  from  the  trees,  and  for  sixpence  when  they  were 
picked  off  the  ground.  In  favorable  seasons  trees  and  vines  are 
very  prolific. 

The  difficulties  met  with  in  raising  fruit  are  frost  in  the  early 
part  of  the  season,  when  the  trees  are  blossoming,  and  hail-storms 


Preparing  Trenches  for  planting  Vines  and  Trees. 

in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  when  the  fruit  is  young.  Locusts 
come  in  millions  and  at  times  devastate  the  whole  orchard,  leav- 
ing the  fruit  exposed  to  the  sun  and  at  times  badly  eaten.  There 
are  two  kinds  of  these  locusts :  one  comes  and  stays  for  a  day  or 
so,  doing  what  damage  it  can  for  the  time  being ;  the  other  one 
alights  on  the  trees  for  permanent  occupation.  They  first  ap- 
pear in  the  early  spring  as  small  insects.  The  little  dark-brown, 
wingless  creatures  are  commonly  known  as  voetgangers  (walkers), 
and  come  out  of  the  ground  when  they  are  hatched,  hopping 
along  in  countless  myriads.  The  locusts  plant  their  eggs  in  the 


478       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF  SOUTH    AFRICA 

sands  to  hatch  during  the  months  of  September  and  October. 
Sometimes  all  Kenilworth  and  the  adjoining  fields  are  swarming 
with  these  insects.  In  order  to  protect  some  of  the  gardens  from 
young  locusts,  sheets  of  corrugated  iron  twenty-six  inches  wide 
are  placed  along,  and  leaning  against,  the  fences.  The  locusts 
cannot  climb  up  the  smooth  surface  of  the  iron.  In  that  way 
many  residences  are  also  protected.  Sometimes  servants  are 
employed  continually  from  morning  till  night  in  driving  away 
the  insects.  They  destroy  all  the  vegetation  over  which  they 
pass.  The  natives  are  very  fond  of  eating  them.  They  go  out 
into  the  veld  in  large  parties,  and  drive  the  voetgangers  from 
all  directions  upon  blankets,  and  then  empty  them  into  sacks 
which  they  carry  to  their  huts.  Flying  locusts  develop  in  about 
six  weeks  from  the  dark-brown  little  insects.  The  other  variety 
that  scourges  the  fields  is  a  species  of  locusts  with  red  wings,  and 
their  damage  is  the  greater  from  the  fact  that  they  stay  in  one 
place  until  every  green  plant  upon  which  they  alight  is  destroyed. 
Swarms  of  these  locusts  occasionally  appear,  at  times  darkening 
the  horizon,  and  following  the  wind.  For  the  past  seven  years 
these  swarms  have  been  very  troublesome.  During  one  season, 
after  consuming  all  the  leaves,  the  leaf  and  fruit  buds  on  the 
trees  were  entirely  eaten  off  by  these  pests,  destroying  the  fruit 
not  only  for  that  year,  but  for  the  following  season.  In  spite 
of  these  drawbacks  to  fruit  raising,  the  efforts  of  the  Company 
have  been  unflagging. 


CHAPTER   XVI 


FORMATION     OF    THE     DIAMOND 

The  Diamond-bearing  Deposits 

VER  the  basin  now  extending  as  an  arid  karoo 
for  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  south  of  the  Kim- 
berley  Diamond  Fields  the  waters  of  a  great  lake 
once  spread.  It  is  apparent  that  the  diamond 
mines  are  on  the  northerly  rim  of  this  basin, 
for  the  beds  of  shale  that  everywhere  under- 
lie the  basaltic  trap  surface  or  country  rock  are  notably  thinner 
in  the  northern  mine  openings  than  they  are  farther  south  at 
Bultfontein  and  Dutoitspan,1  and  shortly  after  passing  Kim- 
berley  fields  the  shale  terminates  at  the  edge  of  the  "  bed  rock  " 
of  the  Vaal  River  diggings,  an  amygdaloidal  trap  which  Dr. 
Stelzner'2  determined  to  be  olivine  diabase. 

By  the  great  open  excavations  and  the  extension  of  the  un- 
derground workings,  the  rock  formations  of  the  karoo  basin  are 
very  clearly  revealed.  The  red  soil  that  covers  the  surface  of  the 
country  to  the  depth  of  from  one  to  five  feet  is  evidently  the 
result  of  the  decomposition  of  the  friable  face  of  the  under- 
lying basalt,  which  is  scattered  in  fragments  over  the  country  in 
jutting  bouiders  and  rounded  stones.  This  rock  at  De  Beers  and 
Kimberley  mines  is  from  twenty  to  ninety  feet  in  thickness,  but 
very  much  decomposed  throughout.  Below  the  layer  is  a  bed 
of  black  shale,  ranging  in  thickness  from  two  hundred  to  three 
hundred  feet.  In  this  bed  there  is  a  considerable  amount  of 
carbon  and  a  large  quantity  of  iron  pyrites. 

1  "Diamonds  and  Gold  in  South  Africa,"  p.  19,  Theodore  Reunert,  M.E. 

2  Dr.  A.  W.  Stelzner,  Professor  of  Geology  at  the  Freiberg  Mining  Academy. 

479 


480      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


SCALE 
100 


JOO 


KIMBERLEY 
FT.     IN. 


Geological  sections  of  Underlying  the  shale 

DE  BEERS  AND  KIMBERLEY  ROCK  SHAFTS.  .  ,  .       ,       .       c  . 

is  a  thin  bed  of  conglom- 
erate, composed  of  small 
stones,some  well  rounded 
and  others  angular,  and 
firmly  cemented  together. 
Its  thickness,  measured 
in  the  rock  shaft  in  the 
Kimberley  mine,  did  not 
exceed  ten  feet.  This 
band  has  been  styled  by 
Professor  A.  H.  Green 
the  basement  conglom- 
erate of  the  Kimberley 
shales,1  and  it  is  assumed 
by  Mr.  E.  J.  Dunn  to 
be  of  the  same  origin  as 
the  Dwyka  conglomerate 
belt  on  the  northern  base 
of  the  Zwarte  Berg  and 
Witte  Berg  mountains, 
forming  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  old  lake 
basin.2  He  holds  that 
this  conglomerate  is  a 
glacial  deposit  marking 
the  shore  line  of  the  an- 
cient lake. 

Below  the   conglom- 

1  "A    Contribution   to  the 
Geology  and   Physical    Geogra- 
phy   of    the     Cape    Colony." 
Quar.   Jour.    Geol.    Soc.,  Vol. 
44  (1888),  p.  245. 
2  "  On  the  Mode  of  Occurrence  of  Diamonds  in  South  Africa."     Quar.  Jour. 
Geol.  Soc.,  Vol.  30  (1874),  pp.  54-59. 


FORMATION   OF   THE    DIAMOND  481 

erate  is  a  very  hard  amygdaloidal  rock,  called  melaphyre  by 
M.  A.  Moulle,1  which  was  finally  determined  by  Dr.  Stelzner2 
to  be  olivine  diabase.  Its  mineral  composition  is  the  same  as 
melaphyre,  —  plagioclase,  augite,  and  olivine,  but  one  is  granu- 
lar and  the  other  porphyritic.  It  is  about  four  hundred  feet 
in  thickness  and  is  very  hard.  Underlying  the  amygdaloidal 
rock  is  quartzite,  the  thickness  of  which  is  not  yet  determined. 
The  Kimberley  rock  shaft  has  passed  through  fourteen  hun- 
dred feet  of  it,  and  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  is  still  in  the  same 
formation.  All  these  strata  lie  nearly  horizontal,  but  dip 
slightly  to  the  north.  They  are  graphically  presented  in  the 
sectional  views  of  the  rock  shafts  of  De  Beers  and  Kimberley 
mines  shown  on  page  480. 

Through  these  layers  of  rock  extend  from  an  unknown 
depth  the  huge  pipes  containing  the  diamond-bearing  deposits, 
or  blue  ground,  which  is  a  breccia  filled  with  fragments  of  shale 
and  other  minerals.  These  immense  funnels  are  obviously 
extinct  craters  filled  with  volcanic  mud  from  below.  All  evi- 
dence to  hand  points  to  an  aqueous  formation,  and  the  upheaval 
is  shown  by  the  upturning  of  the  enclosing  shales  at  various 
places  in  contact  with  the  blue  ground.3  Many  boulders  are 
found  in  the  blue  ground  of  the  same  composition  as  the  sur- 
rounding rock,  but  others  have  undoubtedly  come  up  from 
greater  depths  than  have  yet  been  reached  by  the  sinking  of 
shafts.  It  is,  however,  highly  remarkable  that  there  was  almost 
no  apparent  overflow  in  the  filling  of  these  craters,  for  the 
diamond-bearing  ground  is  either  level  with  the  surrounding 
surface,  or  rises,  usually,  only  a  few  feet  above  it  in  kopjes  or 
hillocks.  Outside  of  the  mouths  of  the  craters  no  diamonds 
have  been  found  except  at  Dutoitspan,  where  the  upheaval 
formed  quite  a  hill,  and  some  diamonds  have  been  taken  from 
the  surrounding  ground  within  a  few  yards  from  the  margin  of 

1  "  Memoire  sur  la  geologic  generale  et  sur  les  mines  de  diamants  de  1'Afrique 
du  Sud."      Annales  des  Mines,  8th  Series,  Vol.  VII  (1885),  p.   193. 

2  Dr.  A.  W.  Stelzner,  Professor  of  Geology  at  the  Freiberg  Mining  Academy. 

3  Still  to  be  seen  at  De  Beers  Mine. 


z  i 


482      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


De  Beers  Diamond.     Found  March  28,  18 
Weight,  428}  carats. 


the  mine.       It  is  also  evident  that  the  mines  were  not  all  fi  led 

with  the  same  material  at  one  and  the  same  time.      Each  mine 

has  its  distinctive  character- 
istics, and  even  in  the  same 
mine  all  the  blue  ground  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  forced 
up  at  one  time.  This  is  par- 
ticularly demonstrated  by  the 
striking  fact  that,  in  both  De 
Beers  and  Kimberley  mines, 
the  west  side  blue  ground  is 
wholly  unlike  the  other  por- 
tions of  the  mines,  and  carries 
fewer  diamonds,  and  these  are 
unlike  the  diamonds  that  are 
found  in  other  parts.  The 

blue   ground  which   filled   the  west  ends  of  these  mines   must 

have   come    up    first,   filling 

the  whole  crater.     Afterward 

there  was  a  second  upheaval 

which  filled  the  eastern  parts 

of  the  craters  with  a  richer 

deposit.     The    reason    why 

the  west  end  was  not  mixed 

with  the  better  blue  ground 

was    because    the    west    end 

parts   of  the   mines   formed 

benches,  and  were   not  ver- 
tically    above     the     second 

boiling  mass.      Mr.  Rhodes 

suggested  this  solution,  and 

I  quite  agree  with  him.    This     Another  view  of  the  De 

peculiarity    is    noticeable    in 

the  other  mines. 

The  composition  of  the  blue  ground,  which  is  the  principal 

filling  of  the  volcanic  pipes,  has  been  carefully  determined  by 


Diamond.  After 
cutting,  its  weight  was  228$  carats,  and  it  was 
sold  for  ,£13,600. 


FORMATION    OF   THE    DIAMOND 


483 


Dr.  Stelzner.  This  ground,  he  says,  must  be  designated  as  a 
breccia.  Most  of  the  small  or  large  angular-edged  or  rounded 
fragments  of  this  breccia  are  composed  of  a  green-black  or  blue- 
black  serpentine-like  mass.  Fragments  of  rock  which  are  found 
in  the  karoo  formation,  such  as  sandstone,  shale,  and  diabase, 
are  to  be  found  in  the  blue  ground.  There  are  also  other  rocks 
in  the  shape  of  boulders  of  greater  or  less  size,  which  are  not 
known  in  the  karoo  formation,  and  have  doubtless  come  from 
a  much  greater  depth  than  the  karoo  beds,  possibly  from  rocks 
upon  which  these  beds  lie.  The  mass  of  blue  ground  consists  of 
olivine  more  or  less  changed 
by  oxidation,  with  the  follow- 
ing minerals :  chromic  diallage, 
bronzite,  pyrope  containing 
chromium,  flesh-colored  zir- 
cons (locally  called  Dutch 
boart),cyanite,biotite,chrome, 
titanium,  and  magnetic  iron, 
and  also  small  crystals  of 
perofskite. 

In  the  Jagersfontein  blue 
ground  corundum  is  said  to 
have  been  found.  This  was 
for  a  time  held  to  be  cordierite. 
The  existence  of  small  crys- 
tals of  tourmaline  and  rutile  is  also  reported.  Professor  J.  G. 
Lawn,  Kimberley  School  of  Mines,  reports  that  he  discovered 
rubies  and  sapphires  of  inferior  quality  in  the  Frank  Smith  mine 
near  Kimberley.  Iron  pyrites  and  barytes  are  found  in  the 
deposit  resulting  from  washing  the  blue  ground.  The  pyrites 
come  from  the  country  rocks,  and  become  mixed  with  the 
diamond-bearing  ground  during  the  process  of  mining.  The 
barytes  is  a  secondary  formation  of  small  veins  in  the  blue 
ground,  or  at  its  junction  with  the  country  rock.  Beautiful 
crystals  of  doubly  refracting  or  Iceland  spar  are  occasionally 
found  also  near  the  junction  of  the  blue  ground  and  the  rock. 


The  Largest  Diamond  ever  found  in  the  Kim- 
berley mine.  It  weighed  503  carats,  but  was 
full  of  spots. 


484      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

In  Professor  Lewis's  discussion  of  the  genesis  of  the  diamond 
in  1886,  he  designated  the  blue  ground  variously  as  "dunite 
porphyry,"  "Saxonite  porphyry,"  and  "  diamantiferous  perido- 
tite."  His  application  of  the  term  "  Kimberlite,"  now  generally 
accepted  by  geologists,  first  appears  in  his  paper  of  the  following 
year,  1887,  at  the  British  Association  meeting  at  Manchester.1 
Dr.  Stelzner  thought  this  name  should  be  adopted  as  concisely 
covering  "a  porphyritic  volcanic  peridotite  of  basaltic  structure." 

In  the  mass  of  diamond-bearing  blue  ground  in  De  Beers 
mine  there  is  a  curious  dyke  of  igneous  rock  which  extends  from 
the  southeast  part  of  the  mine  around  the  east  and  north  sides, 
and  is  lost  in  the  unexplored  poor  blue  ground  of  the  west. 
Owing  to  its  taking  a  serpentine  course  across  the  mine,  it  has 
received  the  local  name  of  "  snake."  The  upper  end  of  this 
snake  is  at  or  near  the  surface,  and  the  body  extends  down  to 
the  lowest  workings.  It  does  not  adhere  to  the  blue  ground, 
and  is  very  easily  separated  from  it.  It  stands  like  a  vein, 
nearly  vertical,  varying  in  thickness  from  two  to  seven  feet.  No 
diamonds  have  been  found  in  it,  yet  Dr.  Stelzner's  investigations 
show  that  its  composition  is  substantially  the  same  as  the  sur- 
rounding breccia.  It  was  difficult  to  obtain  slides  of  the  blue 
ground  for  microscopical  observations  and  comparison,  but 
after  many  trials  Dr.  Stelzner  succeeded  in  getting  a  few  sections 
which  revealed  these  interesting  facts  :  — 

"  The  main  body  of  the  blue  ground  is  entirely  analogous  to 
the  snake  rock,  naturally  more  decomposed,  but  in  essential 
points  the  microscopic  features  of  blue  ground  and  snake  (not 
taking  into  consideration  the  numerous  little  slate  fragments  in 
the  blue)  are  in  an  extraordinary  degree  alike.  It  therefore 
impresses  upon  one's  mind  that  the  "snake"  is  a  younger  erup- 
tive formation  coming  from  the  same  volcanic  source  as  the  blue 
ground."  2 

1  "The  Matrix  of  the  Diamond,"   Henry  Carvill  Lewis,   M.A.,  F.G.S., 
Professor  of  Mineralogy  in  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia,  U.S.A., 
at  meeting  of  British  Association  at  Manchester,  August  and  September,  1887. 

2  Letter  of  Dr.  Stelzner  addressed  to  Gardner  F.  Williams. 


FORMATION   OF   THE    DIAMOND  485 

On  the  looo-foot  level  of  Kimberley  mine  a  tunnel  driven 
in  the  quartzite  outside  the  margin  of  the  mine  shows  several 
dykes  of  similar  rock.  Wherever  these  dykes  exist  there  is  a 
considerable  quantity  of  water  at  the  junction  of  the  dykes  and 
quartzite. 

There  was  a  large  mass  of  country  rock  in  De  Beers  mine, 
which  in  the  upper  levels  covered  several  claims,  or  approximately 
an  area  of  3000  square  feet.  It  continued  down  to  a  depth  of 
about  750  feet.  It  was  an  olivine  diabase,  and  was  the  same  as 
the  amygdaloidal  rock,  except  that  it  was  filled  with  numerous 
veins  of  zeolites.  The  "  Island,"  as  it  is  called,  was  a  gigantic 
horse  of  country  rock  embedded  in  blue  ground,  and  has  disap- 
peared in  depth.  Islands  of  the  same  rock  appeared  in  the  Kim- 
berley mine  near  the  surface  and  at  a  depth  of  1200  feet,  and  near 
the  surface  in  Dutoitspan,  Bultfontein,  and  Premier  mines,  where 
they  have  been  left  standing  as  the  blue  ground  which  sur- 
rounded them  has  been  removed,  and  form  huge  islands  in  a 
sea  of  blue  ground,  which  are  locally  known  as  Mount  Ararats. 

Floating  shale  appeared  at  or  near  the  surface  of  the  mines 
and  covered  many  claims.  This  was  originally  volcanic  mud, 
and  it  contained  no  diamonds.  It  gradually  became  smaller  in 
depth,  and  has  disappeared  in  the  lower  levels. 

In  the  early  descriptions  of  the  mines  fossil  wood  and  plants 
are  reported  to  have  been  found  in  the  blue  ground.  I  am  of 
the  opinion  that  these  came  either  from  the  shale  surrounding 
the  craters,  which  was  constantly  falling  into  the  open  mines,  or 
from  the  pieces  of  shale  which  became  embedded  in  the  blue 
ground  at  the  time  the  craters  were  filled.  The  only  fossils  which 
have  been  found  in  the  mines  since  they  have  been  under  my 
management  are  the  fish  which  are  shown  in  the  illustration  on 
page  486.  They  are  embedded  in  sandstone  which  was  found 
on  the  1 85-foot  level  of  Premier  mine. 

The  surface  shales  and  basalt  surrounding  the  pipes  are 
called  reef,  and  the  masses  of  shale  and  igneous  rocks,  scattered 
through  the  blue  ground  in  the  upper  levels  of  the  mines,  are 
commonly  spoken  of  as  floating  reef. 


486      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

After  careful  microscopical  observations,  Dr.  Stelzner  and 
others  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  blue  ground  is  of 
volcanic  origin,  and  was  forced  up  from  below.  This  conclusion 
accords  with  the  opinion  which  I  formed  of  the  origin  of  the 


Fossil  Fish  from  Premier  Mine. 


diamond-bearing  deposit,  during  my  visits  to  the  Diamond  Fields 
in  1884  and  1885.  I  then  thought  that  the  filling  of  the  pipes 
was  due  to  aqueous  rather  than  igneous  agencies,  possibly  to 
something  in  the  nature  of  mud  volcanoes. 


The  Genesis  of  the  Diamond 

The  chemical  composition  of  the  diamond  has  long  been 
determined,  at  least  approximately.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  conjec- 
tured it  to  be  of  vegetable  origin  and  combustible,  but  it  was  not 
until  1694  that  Newton's  assumption  of  its  combustibility  was 
actually  proved  by  the  famous  burning  glass  experiment  of  the 
academicians  of  Cimento,  at  the  prompting  of  the  Grand  Duke 
Cosmo  III. 

Lavoisier,  Guyton  de  Morveau,  and  others  practically  deter- 
mined, later,  that  the  burning  of  a  diamond  with  a  free  supply  of 
oxygen  converted  it  into  carbon  dioxide  ;  and,  finally,  the  ex- 
periments of  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  in  1816,  showed  that  the 
diamond  was  almost  entirely  pure  carbon.  Davy's  conclusions 


FORMATION    OF   THE    DIAMOND  487 

have  been  confirmed  by  Dumas,  Stas,  Friedel,  Roscoe,  and 
other  eminent  chemists,  apparently  fixing  with  extreme  precision 
the  chemical  composition  of  the  diamond.  It  is,  however,  note- 
worthy that  the  diamond  is  a  non-conductor  of  electricity,  while 
graphite  and  charcoal,  substances  so  closely  similar  in  chemical 
composition,  are  excellent  electrical  conductors.  By  the  applica- 
tion of  friction  the  diamond  can  be  positively  electrified,  but 
Streeter  says  that  it  loses  its  electricity  completely  in  the  course 
of  half  an  hour.1 

So  much,  it  may  be  claimed,  we  know ;  but  the  process  of 
the  formation  or  crystallization  of  the  diamond  carbon  is  still 
uncertain.  The  proofs  are  most  conclusive  that  the  diamonds 
in  the  South  African  mines  were  not  formed  in  situ,  but  have 
come  up  from  below  with  blue  ground.  The  frequent  occur- 
rence of  broken  crystals  embedded  in  the  blue  is  sufficient 
evidence  that  the  diamonds  are  not  in  their  original  place  of 
crystallization,  for  it  is  impossible  for  nature  to  produce  a  frag- 
ment of  a  diamond. 

The  late  Dr.  W.  Guybon  Atherstone,  F.G.S.,  whose  identifi- 
cation made  known  the  first  diamond  of  the  South  African 
Fields,  presented  his  theory  at  a  meeting  of  the  South  African 
Geological  Society,  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  succession  of  the  strata  in  the  Kimberley  mine  is  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  that  of  the  lacustrine  sedimentary  beds,  begin- 
ning from  the  quartzite  base  of  the  carboniferous  rocks  and 
shales,  through  the  ecca  and  karoo  formation,  the  coal-bearing 
shales  of  the  Stormberg,  to  the  dolerite,  capping  and  protecting 
the  surface,  as  proved  by  the  rock  shaft  recently  sunk  out  of  the 
influence  of  the  Kimberley  mine  to  a  depth  of  one  thousand  feet, 
where  a  thickness  of  four  hundred  feet  of  amygdaloidal  lava  with 
the  trappean  ecca  conglomerate  above  it  represents  the  prevailing 
rocks  of  the  Vaal,  Riet,  and  Orange  rivers  for  a  great  distance 
below  Hopetown.  Incredible  as  it  was  deemed  at  the  time,  my 
story  of  the  small  rounded  river  stone  which  fell  out  of  the 
unsealed  letter  placed  in  my  hands  by  the  post-boy,  has  since 
1  "Precious  Stones  and  Gems,"  p.  58. 


488       THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

proved  to  have  been  the  key  that  has  unlocked  the  vast  under- 
ground wealth  of  South  Africa.1 

"  The  story  I  have  now  to  tell  of  its  birthplace  and  subse- 
quent history  will,  I  know,  appear  still  more  incredible,  as  fabu- 
lous indeed  as  was  that  of  Sindbad,  the  Arabian  voyager,  who, 
with  the  talisman  and  magic  lamp  of  Aladdin  the  Seer,  unlocked 
the  caverns  of  Africa's  fairy  land,  and  viewed  in  prophetic  vision 


Irregular  Crystallization  of  Diamonds. 

the  vast  stores  of  buried  treasures,  —  gold,  diamonds,  and  other 
gems, — just  as  we  see  them  now  with  our  magic  electric  lamp  a 
thousand  feet  down  in  the  dark  recesses  of  the  extinct  volcano, 
yielding  millions  of  the  purest  gems  upon  earth. 

"  How  came  the  diamond  there  in  its  hard  blue  matrix  of 
ashes  and  lava,  with  its  accompanying  gems,  —  garnets,  rubies, 
sapphires,  agates,  and  other  gems,  —  the  products  of  solution  and 
1  Geological  Magazine,  Vol.  VI,  p.  208,  May,  1889. 


FORMATION   OF   THE    DIAMOND  489 

heat  ?  For  a  substance  to  crystallize,  its  molecules  must  be  free 
to  move  under  polarizing  and  other  metamorphic  forces  influenc- 
ing crystallization  ;  but  the  diamond  we  know  is  neither  soluble 


Irregular  Crystallization  of  Diamonds. 

nor  fusible.  It  is  the  element  carbon  crystallized,  and  is  con- 
sumed by  heat.  How,  then,  could  it  survive  as  a  crystal  in  the 
crater  of  a  volcano  ? 

"  The  key  to  solve  this  mystery  was  placed  in  my  hand  over 
half  a  century  ago,  by  one  of  the  greatest  philosophers  of  the 


490      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

age,  whose  lectures  I  had  the  privilege  of  attending.  But  it  was 
not  until  I  had  examined  a  diamond  mine  in  South  Africa  and 
speculated  upon  the  apparently  irreconcilable  phenomena  attend- 
ant upon  the  origin  of  the  diamond  in  its  matrix,  that  the  prac- 
tical application  of  Faraday's  discovery  began  to  dawn  upon  me. 
'  Hold  out  your  hand,'  said  he,  at  the  close  of  the  lecture  that 
fairly  electrified  the  world  of  science,  as  with  a  loud  hiss  a  snowy 
substance,  burning  like  a  coal  but  in  reality  intensely  cold, 
escaped  into  the  palm  of  my  hand  from  the  strong  iron  vessel 
in  which,  with  a  pressure  of  fifty  atmospheres,  he  had  liquefied 
carbonic  acid  gas  —  the  very  gas  resulting  from  the  combustion 

of  the  diamond,  consisting  of 
one  atom  of  carbon  and  two 
of  oxygen. 

"  I  have  shown  that  the 
sedimentary  beds  deposited 
from  this  vast  freshwater  lake 
attained  a  thickness  of  about 
eight  thousand  feet.  The 
lake  itself,  therefore,  prob- 
ably equalled  that  depth.  (?) 
Now  the  experiments  of 
Wyville  Thomson  and  Car- 

Crystal  of  Diamond,  showing  Rounded  Edges.        penter,        made       during       the 

voyage  of  the  Lightning  and  the  Porcupine,  proved  that  at  a 
depth  of  three  to  four  hundred  fathoms,  the  pressure  is  equal  to 
half  a  ton  on  the  square  inch  ;  at  a  mile  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty-nine  atmospheres,  and  at  seven  thousand  feet  it  amounts  to 
two  hundred  atmospheres,  or  four  times  the  pressure  under  which 
Faraday  liquefied  carbonic  acid  gas,  the  temperature  at  such  great 
depths  being  very  few  degrees  above  freezing  point.  In  the 
carbonic  acid  gas  generated  from  the  carbonaceous  shales  by 
heat,  and  interspersed  as  gas  bubbles  in  the  cavities  of  the  viscid, 
ferruginous  amygdaloid,  and  in  the  admixture  of  steam,  lava,  and 
ashes  known  as  the  '  Kimberley  Blue '  —  reduced  to  the  liquid 
state  by  the  enormous  pressure  in  the  subaqueous  volcano  —  we 


FORMATION    OF   THE    DIAMOND 


491 


have  the  constituents  of  the  diamond  in  a  form  admitting  of 
crystallization,  and  the  subsequent  absorption  of  its  oxygen  by 
the  iron  always  present  in  its  containing  walls  during  long  inter- 
mittent periods  of  volcanic  inactivity.  There  are  proofs  in  the 
Kimberley  mine  that  such  alternating  periods  of  activity  and 
repose  have  occurred  at  long  intervals,  as  shown  by  the  four  or 


Twin  Crystal  Formations. 

five  distinct  and  separate  layers  of  diamonds  lining  its  walls,  of 
varying  size  and  quality,  known  and  recognizable  by  diamond 
buyers." 

In  this  presentation,  which  Dr.  Atherstone  seemingly  re- 
garded as  conclusive,  there  is  a  lack  of  the  clear,  logical  reason- 
ing which  in  other  discussions  has  distinguished  his  views.  He 
dogmatically  puts  the  carbonic  acid  gas  evolved  from  the  car- 


492      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

bonaceous  shales  into  cavities  of  the  amygdaloidal  rock  which 
lies  outside  of  the  volcanic  pipes.  Then  he  reduces  this  gas  by 
enormous  pressure  to  a  liquid  state,  and,  having  gotten  it  into  a 
form,  as  he  thought,  admitting  of  crystallization,  he  absorbs  the 
oxygen  of  the  carbonic  acid  by  the  iron  in  the  containing  walls 
of  the  craters.  Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  no  cavities  in 
the  amygdaloidal  rock  underlying  the  shales,  for  all  interstices 
are  rilled  with  silica  in  the  form  of  agates,  or  with  calcite.  Fur- 
thermore, if  carbonic  acid  had  been  left  in  the  olivine  diabase  to 
crystallize,  then  the  resultant  diamonds  would  have  been  enclosed 
in  this  formation,  which  is  also  contrary  to  fact,  for  no  diamonds 
have  ever  been  found  in  the  amygdaloidal  rock.  His  main  con- 
tention, too,  is  the  derival  from  the  shales  of  the  carbon  necessary 
for  the  formation  of  diamonds.  It  will  be  made  clear,  subse- 
quently in  this  discussion,  that  this  assumption  is  not  justified. 

The  late  Henry  Carvill  Lewis,  M.A.,  F.G.S.,  Professor  of 
Mineralogy  in  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia, 
U.S.A.,  advanced  the  proposition  that  the  diamond  is  the  result 
of  the  intrusion  of  igneous  rocks  into  and  through  the  carbo- 
naceous shales,  and  the  crystallization  of  the  carbon  throughout 
the  rocks,  as  it  cools,  from  hydrocarbon,  distilled  from  the 
shales  that  had  been  broken  through.1 

In  support  of  such  a  theory,  it  is  claimed  that  the  diamonds 
in  the  various  mines  or  pipes  have  different  characteristics.  It 
is  quite  true  that  large  parcels  of  diamonds  from  the  various 
mines  have  distinctive  characteristics,  and  it  can  be  easily  told 
from  which  mine  a  parcel  of  diamonds  comes  ;  but  it  is  very 
difficult  to  tell  in  which  mine  a  single  stone  may  have  been 
found,  though  each  mine  has  stones  in  a  great  measure  peculiar 
to  itself.  Some  observers  claim  that  the  broken  diamonds 
which  are  extracted  are  broken  during  the  process  of  winning 
them.  It  is  admitted  that  diamonds  may  be  broken  in  the 
process  of  mining  and  the  subsequent  operations  of  winning, 
but  these  cases  are  exceptional.  Fragments  of  diamonds  are 
very  frequently  found  embedded  in  the  blue  ground,  and  there 
1  "Gems  and  Precious  Stones  of  North  America,"  George  F.  Kunz. 


FORMATION    OF   THE    DIAMOND  493 

is  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  one  who  has  had  practical 
experience  in  finding  these  fragments  that  they  were  not  crystal- 
lized where  they  are  found.  The  fact  that  no  diamond  has 
ever  been  found  embedded  in  the  shale  itself  strikes  one  as 
conclusive  proof  that  Professor  Lewis's  theory  is  wrong. 


Diamonds  of  Regular  Forms. 

Again,  would  not  the  intrusion  of  an  igneous  rock  through 
carbonaceous  shales  have  altered  these  shales  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  igneous  rock?  There  is,  however,  no  difference  that  can  be 
detected  between  the  shales  at  the  junction  of  the  pipe  and  at  a 
distance  of  one  thousand  feet.  Moreover,  would  not  the  frag- 
ments of  shale  enclosed  in  the  blue  ground  have  changed,  and 
have  lost  the  carbon  which  they  contain,  if  diamonds  were 
formed  from  them  ?  One  sees  no  difference  between  the  shale 
which  forms  the  country  rock,  and  the  fragments  embedded  in 
the  blue  ground.  If  such  a  theory  as  is  attributed  to  Professor 
Lewis  by  Mr.  Kunz  had  a  shadow  of  foundation,  it  is  dis- 
pelled by  the  occurrence  of  diamonds  in  the  Jagersfontein  mine 
in  the  Orange  Free  State,  some  eighty  miles  from  Kimberley. 
In  this  mine  there  are  no  carbonaceous  shales  surrounding  the 
diamond-bearing  deposits.  The  pipe,  as  far  as  developed,  is  in 
quartzite,  and  it  is  apparent  that  the  shales  never  existed  here,  or 


494      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

were  denuded  before  the  formation  of  the  diamond-bearing  pipe. 
If  such  denudation  had  taken  place  after  the  filling  of  the  pipe 
with  a  diamond-bearing  matrix,  the  alluvial  deposit  of  the  coun- 
try surrounding  this  mine  must  contain  diamonds,  but  no  such 
discovery  of  diamonds  has  been  made. 

The  Jagersfontein  mine  is  not  the  only  diamond-bearing  pipe 
that  has  produced  diamonds  without  having  shale  as  a  country 
rock.  Other  pipes  or  veins  have  been  found  both  in  the  Free 
State  and  the  Transvaal,  which  are,  however,  of  little  commercial 
value,  owing  to  the  small  quantities  of  diamonds  found  in  them, 
but  they  are  most  useful  in  refuting  existing  theories,  if  not  in 
the  determination  of  the  genesis  of  the  diamond. 

An  important  contribution  to  this  discussion  was  made  by 
Professor  Molengraaf,  state  geologist  of  the  South  African 
Republic,  in  a  monograph  on  the  diamonds  at  Rietfontein  in 
the  Transvaal.  He  stated  that  "the  diamond-bearing  breccia  on 
the  farm  was  of  the  same  nature  as  the  well-known  blue  ground 
of  the  Kimberley  mines.  The  geological  position  of  the  volcanic 
chimney  at  Rietfontein  was  very  different  from  that  of  the  other 
diamond  pipes  in  South  Africa.  The  latter,  of  course,  all  oc- 
curred in  a  higher  or  lower  horizon  of  the  karoo  formation, 
whereas  the  chimney  at  Rietfontein  seemed  to  occur  in  the  upper 
parts  of  the  Pretoria  beds  in  a  system  of  strata  overlying  the 
Magaliesberg  quartzite.  If  that  position,  which  was  almost  cer- 
tain to  his  mind,  was  proved  to  be  correctly  determined  by  a 
later  and  more  careful  geological  survey  of  the  surrounding 
country,  this  fact  would  be  of  high  importance  in  the  discussion 
of  the  genesis  of  diamonds.  Of  the  different  theories  regarding 
this  genesis  he  would  only  mention  three  principal  ones. 

"  He  would  take  up  first  the  theory  agitated  by  Messrs. 
Stanislas  Meunier,1  M.  Chaper,2  and  in  a  somewhat  modified  form 

1  "  Composition   et   origine  du  sable  diamantifere  du  Du  Toils  Pan,  Afrique 
australe."        Comptes     rendus    de    1' Academic     des     Sciences    de    Paris.       Vol. 
LXXXIV,   No.  VI,  p.   250.      "  Examen    mineralogique   des   roches   qui   accom- 
pagnent  le  diamant  dans  les  mines  du  Cap  de  Bonne  Esperance."      Bulletins  de 
P  Academic  Royale  de  Belgique,  jd  series,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  4. 

2  "  Note  sur  la  region  diamantifere  de  1' Afrique  australe."     Paris,  1880. 


FORMATION   OF   THE    DIAMOND  495 

lately  by  Professor  Gamier.  They  denied  the  igneous  origin  of 
the  blue  ground  and  the  diamonds  in  it,  and  considered  the  blue 
ground  to  be  a  kind  of  mud,  or  peculiar  alluvial  deposit,  which 
had  been  forced  up  by  a  hydrostatic  process.  That  theory,  to 
his  mind,  had  already  been  proved  untenable  by  several  eminent 
geologists.  The  two  remaining  theories  agreed  as  far  as  the 
igneous  origin  of  the  blue  ground.  According  to  one  of  these, 
the  diamonds  belong  to  the  primary  constituents  of  the  eruptive 
rock  itself,  and  had  crystallized  at  a  great  depth  under  very  high 
pressure  and  high  temperature,  before  an  eruption  of  an  explo- 
sive character  brought  the  igneous  rock  to  the  earth's  surface. 

"According  to  the  second  theory,  which  was  discussed  by 
Mr.  Harger  at  a  meeting  of  the  Geological  Society  of  South 
Africa,  the  diamonds  were  formed  in  the  blue  ground,  during 
its  ascension,  from  carbon  borrowed  from  the  carbonaceous 
shales  through  which  the  eruptive  rock  forced  its  way.  Now, 
that  theory,  although  rather  weak  in  his  opinion,  had  been  main- 
tained, hitherto,  mainly  because  the  geological  position  of  the 
known  diamond  pipes  was  such  that  it  could  be  proved,  or,  at 
least,  be  accepted  as  very  probable,  that  the  blue  ground  had 
forced  its  way  through  carbonaceous  strata.  The  discovery  at 
Rietfontein  deprived  that  theory  of  its  strength.  As  already 
pointed  out,  the  chimney  at  Rietfontein  was  found  in  the  upper 
Pretoria  beds.  But  in  the  Pretoria  beds,  as  well  as  in  the  forma- 
tions underlying  these,  strata  containing  any  notable  quantities  of 
carbon  were  nowhere  to  be  found  in  the  Transvaal ;  so  that  the 
conclusion  might  safely  be  drawn  that  the  igneous  blue  ground,  in 
forcing  its  way  from  great  depths  toward  the  place  where  it  was 
found,  could  not  borrow  any  carbon  from  the  surrounding  strata 
in  order  to  convert  it  into  diamonds.  The  discovery  at  Rietfon- 
tein might  afford  a  valuable  argument  in  favor  of  the  formation 
of  diamonds  as  a  primary  constituent  in  breccia,  or  ultrabasic 
magma  at  great  depth,  and  geologists  were  entitled  to  derive 
from  it  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  following  more  general 
thesis  :  '  The  elements  of  carbon,  under  the  conditions  of  heat 
and  pressure  ruling  at  great  depth  in  the  interior  of  the  earth, 


496      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Diamonds  of  Irregular  Forms. 


can  only  exist  and  crystallize  in  the  modification  called  diamonds.' 
This  thesis  was,  of  course,  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  latest 
scientific  discoveries,  especially  with  the  famous  experiments  of 
Moissan." 


FORMATION   OF   THE   DIAMOND  497 

It  was  the  opinion  of  the  late  Dr.  Stelzner  that  the  diamond 
was  crystallized  at  great  depths  and  came  up  with  the  magma  or 
matrix.  The  following  liberal  translation  from  a  lecture  de- 
livered by  Dr.  Stelzner  before  the  Isis  Society  in  Dresden  on 
April  20,  1893,  gives  the  views  of  this  celebrated  geologist :  — 

"  Before  I  give  my  own  opinion,  may  I  be  allowed  to  recall 
three  well-known  geological  facts  :  first,  that  various  minerals 
which  compose  many  of  the  eruptive  rocks,  for  instance  the 
olivine  of  certain  basalts,  contain  liquid  carbonic  acid,  and  we 
must  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  molten  magma  under  some 
circumstances  must  have  been  impregnated  with  carbonic  acid  ; 
second,  that  the  blue  ground  of  Kimberley,  as  already  mentioned 
by  Lewis,  has  a  known  resemblance  to  many  meteorites ;  and, 
third,  that  a  modified  form  of  carbon,  besides  graphite,  similar 
to  the  diamond,  has  been  met  with  recently  in  meteorites. 

"  If  we  take  these  three  facts  into  consideration,  and  also 
remember  that  in  most  of  the  localities  in  which  diamond-bear- 
ing alluvial  deposits  appear  (Ural,  India,  Borneo,  New  South 
Wales,  and  in  the  United  States),  serpentine  (especially  perido- 
tite)  is  to  be  found,  we  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  carbon 
of  the  diamond  itself  crystallized  when  this  molten  mass,  rich  in 
magnesium  silicate,  became  cool.  In  support  of  this  opinion  we 
find  that  in  some  instances  diamonds  and  garnets  (pyrope)  are 
found  together,  showing  that  they  have  the  same  origin." 

For  the  illumination  of  the  problem  of  the  formation  of 
diamonds  the  experiments  of  Mr.  J.  B.  Hannay  of  Glasgow,  Pro- 
fessor Dewar,  and  M.  Moissan,  and  later  of  Sir  William  Crookes, 
are  of  the  greatest  interest  to  the  scientific  world. 

The  conversion  of  a  diamond  into  graphite  was  effected  by 
Professor  Dewar,  publicly,  in  London,  as  far  back  as  1880.  Sir 
William  Crookes  repeated  the  same  experiment  in  a  lecture  at 
the  Royal  Institution  of  Great  Britain,  on  June  n,  1897,  by 
placing  a  diamond  in  the  electric  arc  where  the  temperature  was 
3600°  C.,  when  it  was  converted  into  graphite. 

Among  the  first  attempts  to  make  artificial  diamonds  may 
be  mentioned  that  of  Mr.  J.  B.  Hannay  of  Glasgow,  who  com- 

2  K 


498       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

menced  his  experiments  in  1879,  anc^  after  many  trials,  some  of 
which  resulted  in  violent  explosions,  he  is  said  to  have  succeeded. 
The  method  adopted  by  Mr.  Hannay  is  described  as  follows:  — 

"  A  tube  twenty  inches  long  by  four  inches  in  diameter  was 
bored  so  as  to  have  an  internal  diameter  of  half  an  inch.  In  the 
tube  was  placed  a  mixture  of  ninety  per  cent  of  rectified  bone  oil, 
and  ten  per  cent  of  paraffin  spirit,  together  with  four  grammes 
(about  sixty-two  grains)  of  the  metal  lithium.  The  open  end  of 
the  tube  was  welded  air-tight,  and  the  whole  mass  was  heated  to 
redness  for  fourteen  hours  ;  on  opening  it  a  great  volume  of  gas 
rushed  from  the  tube,  and  within  was  a  hard,  smooth  mass 
adhering  to  the  sides  of  the  tube.  It  was  quite  black,  and 
appeared  to  be  composed  of  iron  and  lithium,  but  on  a  closer 
inspection  small  transparent  pieces  were  found  embedded  in  it. 
The  mass  was  dissolved,  and  the  small  transparent  pieces  proved 
to  be  '  crystalline  carbon,'  exactly  like  diamonds  but  almost 
microscopical. 

"  Out  of  eighty  complex  and  extensive  experiments  only 
three  succeeded.  Violent  explosions  were  frequent,  steel  tubes 
burst,  scattering  their  fragments  around,  and  furnaces  were  blown 
up.  '  The  continued  strain  on  the  nerves,'  writes  Mr.  Hannay, 
'  watching  the  temperature  of  the  furnace,  and  in  a  state  of  ten- 
sion in  case  of  an  explosion,  induces  a  nervous  state  which  is 
extremely  weakening,  and  when  the  explosion  occurs  it  some- 
times shakes  one  so  severely  that  sickness  supervenes.'  ' 

Sir  William  Crookes  attributes  the  possibility  of  making 
artificial  diamonds  to  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  enormously 
high  temperatures  which  are  obtainable  in  recent  years  by  the 
introduction  of  electricity.  While  electricity  has,  no  doubt, 
played  an  important  part-  in  the  scientific  researches  during  the 
last  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Mr.  Hannay's  experi- 
ments would  indicate  that  it  is  not  absolutely  essential  to  have 
enormous  temperatures  or  pressures  to  produce  artificial  dia- 
monds. Still,  Sir  William  Crookes  shows  that  by  means  of 
these  high  temperatures  substances  such  as  carbon  obey  the 

1  Glasgow  News. 


FORMATION   OF   THE    DIAMOND  499 

common  laws  which  govern  other  substances,  and  can  be  made 
volatile  and  fusible  under  certain  conditions.  He  has  demon- 
strated that  the  temperature  necessary  to  volatilize  pure  carbon 
is  about  3600°  C.,  and  that  it  passes  into  the  gaseous  state 
without  liquefying,  and  he  infers  that,  if  sufficient  pressure  were 
applied  with  the  high  temperature,  liquid  carbon  would  be  pro- 
duced which  upon  cooling  would  crystallize  in  diamonds.  For 
this  product  the  absence  of  oxygen  is  absolutely  necessary,  as 
the  carbon  would  readily  unite  with  it  in  the  form  of  carbonic 
acid.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  iron  when  melted  dissolves 
carbon,  and  while  Moissan  discovered  that  other  metals  effect 
this  dissolution,  he  found  that  iron  was  the  best  solvent. 

Sir  William  Croolces  went  through  the  process  of  producing 
diamonds  before  the  eyes  of  his  audience,  but  was  only  able  to 
show  them  the  result  of  this  experiment  by  reproducing  a  lantern 
slide  of  microscopical  diamonds  which  he  had  made  in  the  same 
way  previously,  for  it  takes  a  fortnight  to  separate  them  from 
the  iron  and  other  substances  in  which  they  are  embedded. 
The  scientific  principle  upon  which  this  experiment  rests,  accord- 
ing to  Sir  William  Crookes,  is  that  molten  iron  absorbs  carbon, 
and  as  iron  increases  in  volume  as  it  passes  from  the  liquid  to 
the  solid  state,  if  the  outer  crust  of  the  iron  is  suddenly  cooled 
and  the  centre  remains  in  a  liquid  state,  the  enormous  pressure 
caused  by  its  expanding  while  cooling  affords  the  two  factors  neces- 
sary for  the  crystallization  of  the  diamond  —  heat  and  pressure. 

Authorities  differ  somewhat  as  to  the  exact  moment  when 
molten  iron  expands  on  cooling,  but  it  is  the  generally  ac- 
cepted theory  that  expansion  takes  place  at  the  moment  of 
solidification.  It  is  also  a  well-known  fact  that  shrinkage  or 
contraction  takes  place  as  the  solidified  metal  cools.  It  is  there- 
fore possible  to  obtain  enormous  pressure  in  the  molten  centre 
of  a  casting  by  the  contraction  of  the  outer  shell  which  has  been 
rapidly  cooled  and  the  expansion  of  the  inner  mass  just  as  it 
begins  to  solidify.1 

'American  Society  Mechanical  Engineers,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  419  and  431. 
American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  Vol.  XVII,  126  and  1015. 


500      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Sir  William  Crookes  says  further,  that  it  has  been  "  conclu- 
sively proved  that  the  diamond's  genesis  must  have  taken  place 
at  great  depths  under  enormous  pressure.  The  explosion  of 
large  diamonds  on  coming  to  the  surface  shows  extreme  ten- 
sion." According  to  my  own  experience,  a  diamond  never 
explodes.  Light  brown,  smoky  diamonds  often  crack  on  expo- 
sure to  the  dry  air,  but  they  will  remain  intact  if  kept  in  a 
moist  place.  The  cracking  is,  therefore,  more  probably  the 
result  of  heat  or  drying  than  of  tension  or  inward  pressure.  It 
is  possible,  however,  that  the  greater  heat  to  which  the  diamond 
is  exposed  when  brought  to  the  surface  may  expand  contained 
gases  sufficiently  to  crack  the  stone. 

Sir  William  holds  the  same  view  of  the  formation  of  the  dia- 
mond-bearing pipes  which  I  suggested  at  the  time  of  my  visit  to 
the  Diamond  Fields  in  I885,1 —  that  these  pipes  were  volcanoes 
which  were  filled  with  the  mixture  which  they  now  contain  while 
it  was  in  the  form  of  mud.  My  reasons  for  this  theory  are  fully 
set  forth  upon  another  page.  Continuing  in  his  lecture,  Sir  Will- 
iam says  :  "  The  ash  left  after  burning  a  diamond  invariably  con- 
tains iron  as  its  chief  constituent,  and  the  most  common  colors 
of  diamonds  when  not  perfectly  pellucid  show  various  shades  of 
brown  and  yellow  from  the  palest  '  off  color '  to  almost  black. 
These  variations  accord  with  the  theory  that  the  diamond  has 
separated  from  molten  iron." 

I  have  a  collection  of  diamonds  of  all  colors,  see  colored 
Plate  opposite,  and  recently  made  exhaustive  tests  in  order  to 
ascertain  whether  they  contained  any  iron  either  in  the  metallic 
or  oxidized  state.  These  experiments  were  made  upon  a  mag- 
netic separating  machine,  the  field  magnets  of  which  attracted 
any  mineral  which  contained  iron  in  a  metallic  or  oxidized  state. 
Although  some  of  these  diamonds  had  the  appearance  of  being 
coated  with  iron  in  some  form,  and  others  were  colored  dark 
brown  and  deep  yellow,  they  were  in  no  way  attracted  by  the 
magnet  even  when  excited  by  a  strong  electrical  current.  These 

1  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers  (October  meeting, 
1886),  Vol.  XV,  pp.  392-417. 


FORMATION   OF   THE    DIAMOND 


501 


experiments  do  not,  perhaps,  disprove  the  existence  of  iron  in 
the  diamond,  but  they  do  establish  the  fact  that,  if  iron  does  exist 
in  an  oxidized  state,  the  quantity  is  infinitesimally  small. 

One  more  theory  of  the  deposit  of  diamonds  in  the  South 
African  fields  is  deserving  of  special  mention,  more  for  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  to  what  heights  of  imagination  the  human  mind 
may  soar,  than  for  any  scientific  value  it  may  have.  This  is  an 
assumption  that  the  diamond  deposits  came  from  a  fall  of  meteors, 
"a  direct  gift  from  heaven,"  and  was  first  advanced  to  notice, 
it  is  said,  by  Meydenbauer.  Such  a  theory  seems  highly  fan- 
tastic and  is  the  most  improbable  of  all.  The  occasional  inclu- 
sion of  black  diamonds  in  meteorites  is  well  attested,  but  these 
occurrences  are  very  far  from  accounting  for  the  formation  of  the 
South  African  diamond-bearing  deposits.  "  Bizarre  as  such  a 
theory  may  appear,"  says  Sir  William  Crookes,  "  I  am  bound 
to  say  there  are  many  circumstances  which  show  that  the  notion 
of  the  heavens  raining  diamonds  is  not  impossible."  The 
"Ava"  meteorite  which  fell  in 
Hungary  in  1846  contained  graph- 
ite in  cubic  crystalline  form  which 
G.  Rose  thought  was  produced  by 
the  transformation  of  diamonds. 
Later  Weinschenk  found  trans- 
parent crystals  (diamonds)  in  the 
Ava  meteorite. 

Since  it  became  known  that 
diamonds  (infinitesimally  small,  it 
is  true,  but  nevertheless  diamonds) 
occur  in  meteorites,  a  general 
search  has  been  made  for  the  minute  crystals  in  meteorites  from 
Australia  and  Russia,  and  from  Canon  Diablo,  Arizona,  and  dia- 
monds and  graphite  have  been  found.1 

From  the  above  facts  and  from  observations  which  Sir  Will- 
iam Crookes  made  at  Kimberley,  he  concludes  that  the  genesis 
of  the  diamonds  found  in  the  South  African  mines  was  by  crys- 
1  Sir  William  Crookes's  lecture. 


A  Microscopical  Diamond  (magnified 
zoo  times)  from  a  Meteorite  from 
Canon  Diablo. 


502      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

tallization  of  pure  carbon  in  molten  masses  of  iron  which  form 
a  part  of  the  internal  regions  of  the  earth. 

The  theory  that  the  diamonds  must  have  crystallized  in 
a  matrix  of  iron  is  not  new.  That  small  diamonds  have  been 
produced  in  this  way  there  is  no  doubt,  and  in  the  absence  of 
further  proof  to  the  contrary  one  might  assume  that  such  was 
the  origin  of  the  diamond.  Iron  in  the  form  of  magnetite  and 
other  similar  minerals  forms  a  considerable  part  of  the  concen- 
trates from  the  washing  machines ;  but  all  proof  that  these 
minerals,  which  may  have  been  derived  from  metallic  iron 
by  oxidation,  were  the  matrix  in  which  the  diamonds  originally 
crystallized  is  wanting.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  am  positive  that 
neither  the  iron  nor,  as  others  have  asserted,  the  olivine  found 
with  the  diamonds  is  the  original  matrix  of  the  diamond  ;  and  my 
assurance  rests  upon  the  fact  that  no  diamonds,  however  small, 
have  ever  been  found  in  the  iron  combination,  or  in  the  other 
minerals  which  accompany  them,  although  these  concentrates 
have  passed  daily  under  the  eyes  of  hundreds  of  keen-eyed 
sorters  for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  tons  have  been  looked  over,  not  once,  but  at  least  four  times. 
The  pieces  of  the  iron  minerals  and  especially  of  the  olivine  are 
often  very  large,  quite  large  enough  to  contain  diamonds  weigh- 
ing several  carats,  which  in  many  cases  would  have  been  exposed 
to  view  had  these  minerals  been  the  original  matrix.  We  must, 
therefore,  look  to  other  sources  for  the  genesis  of  the  diamond. 
I  have  been  of  the  opinion  that  diamonds  crystallized  in  very 
much  the  same  way  as  quartz  or  other  minerals,  but  under 
peculiar  circumstances  possibly  of  pressure  and  heat.  Professor 
Crookes  states  that  diamond  crystals  are  almost  invariably  per- 
fect on  all  sides.  As  a  rule  this  is  the  case.  Quartz  crystals 
have  been  found  which  have  been  formed  without  any  attach- 
ment to  other  substances,  that  is,  with  both  ends  showing  pyram- 
idal facets.  The  same  formation  may  be  seen  in  a  great  many 
other  minerals,  and  this  is  usually  a  characteristic  of  the  diamond, 
but  diamonds  are  found  which  have  been  crystallized  with  some 
portion  of  the  surface  resting  upon  or  adhering  to  some  other 


FORMATION   OF   THE   DIAMOND 


503 


substance.  The  several  reproductions  of  the  various  forms  and 
sizes  of  diamonds  will  give  the  reader  some  idea  of  the  eccen- 
tricities of  these  stones. 

The  experiments  of  Herr  W.  Luzi1  of  Leipsic  in  the  pro- 
duction of  artificial  figures  of  corrosion  on  rough  diamonds  are 
of  exceeding  interest  in  the  light  which  they  throw  on  the  crys- 
tallization and  the  probable  matrix  and  genesis  of  the  diamond. 

Until  lately  the  only  appearance  of  chemical  corrosion  upon 
the  surface  of  rough  diamonds  was  the  regular,  triangular,  nega- 
tive pyramids,  which  were  pro- 
duced through  heating  the 
diamonds  in  the  open  air,  or 
under  oxygen  flame.  Herr 
Luzi  has  succeeded  in  pro- 
ducing different  and  peculiar 
kinds  of  figures.  He  discov- 
ered that  the  breccia  from  the 
South  African  diamond  mines 
(that  is,  the  matrix  or  blue 
ground),  when  in  a  molten 
condition,  possesses  the  prop- 
erty of  absorbing  the  diamond 
or  of  changing  its  shape. 

He  describes  his  experi- 
ment as  follows  :  A  small  quantity  of  blue  ground  was  melted 
in  a  crucible  placed  in  a  Fourquinon-Leclerq  furnace  at  a  tem- 
perature of  1770°  R.,  which  was  the  highest  temperature  attain- 
able. A  diamond  with  perfectly  smooth  natural  faces  was 
submerged  in  this  molten  mass.  A  further  quantity  of  blue 
ground  was  then  added  to  the  contents  of  the  crucible  until  it 
was  completely  filled.  A  tightly  fitting  cover  was  placed  on 
the  crucible,  which  was  placed  in  the  furnace  and  again  exposed 
for  thirty  minutes  to  the  greatest  heat  attainable.  When  the 
crucible  was  cooled  the  diamond  was  removed  and  found  to  be 

1  "Artificial  Figures  of  Corrosion  on  Rough  Diamonds,"  Berichte  der  Deut- 
sche n  Chemise  hen  Gese  Use  haft,  1892. 


Smooth  Surface  of  Diamond  dissected  by  Com- 
bustion. (Magnified  loo  times.)  From  a 
photograph  by  Sir  William  Crookes. 


5o4      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

covered  with  irregular  oval  and  half-round  grooves  of  various 
depths.  In  one  experiment,  the  diamond  was  found  to  be 
deeply  eaten  away  on  one  side,  so  that  the  depression  nearly 
penetrated  through  the  stone. 

Diamonds  thus  magmatically  corroded  have  a  similarity,  as 
regards  the  appearance  of  the  corrosion,  to  hornblende  and  kin- 
dred materials.  A  small  spot  or  scar  was,  at  times,  found  at  the 
bottom  of  a  large  indent.  The  diamonds  were  usually  found, 
after  the  experiments,  to  be  blackened,  or  covered  with  a  red 
coating,  which  proved  to  be  oxide  of  iron. 


Diamonds  of  Irregular  Forms. 

Some  of  the  diamonds  showed  little  black  or  greenish  black 
balls  located  exactly  in  the  centre  of  the  holes.  The  formation 
of  the  balls  is  doubtless  connected  with  the  creation  of  the 
grooves.  These  little  balls  are  magnetic,  and  when  treated  with 
hydrochloric  acid,  in  which  they  are  only  partly  soluble,  they 
evolve  a  gas. 

The  quantity  of  these  balls  was  too  limited  to  permit  of  any 
very  exact  investigation  of  their  nature.  Herr  Luzi  presumes 
that  they  are  transformed  diamond-carbon,  i.e.  a  different  modi- 
fication of  carbon,  which  contains  either  oxide  of  iron  or  metallic 
iron  reduced  out  of  the  oxide.  He  was,  however  (owing  to  the 


FORMATION    OF   THE   DIAMOND 


505 


cost  of  the  material  to  be  experimented  upon),  unable  to  deter- 
mine positively  what  chemical  action  took  place  during  the  time 
the  diamonds  were 
heated  in  the  com- 
plicated silica  flux. 
Some  of  these  partly 
absorbed  diamonds, 
upon  which  Herr 
Luzi  experimented, 
are  deposited  in  the 
mineralogical  mu- 
seum of  the  Leipsic 
University. 

Herr  Luzi  fur- 
ther remarks  that 
perhaps  other 
molten  silica  combi- 
nations, or  those  of 
a  similar  nature  to 
the  blue  ground, 
may  have  the  same 
power  of  attacking 
the  diamond. 

The  knowledge 
that  diamonds  can 
be  absorbed  by  a  sil- 
icate magma  makes 
one  inclined  to  in- 
vestigate further  the 
genesis  of  the  dia- 
mond, which  many 
claim  was  formed 

under  great  heat  and      Two  Views  of  the  Face  of  a  Rough  Diamond,  as  seen  through 
T  -  the  Microscope.     (Magnified  100  times.) 

pressure.      It    such 

was  the  genesis  of  the  diamond,  Herr  Luzi's  experiments  would 

indicate  that  the  original  matrix  was  not  a  silica   combination 


506      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

such  as  the  present  blue  ground.  They  tend  to  prove,  rather, 
the  theory,  which  I  advanced  more  than  sixteen  years  ago,  that 
the  blue  ground  which  contains  the  diamond  owes  its  formation, 
as  it  at  present  exists,  more  to  aqueous  than  igneous  agencies.  If 
the  diamond  is  unable  to  withstand  the  corroding  influence  of  the 
silica  magma  at  the  comparatively  low  temperature  given  above, 
—  how  could  it  possibly  have  retained  its  forms  of  crystallization 
and  perfect  faces  at  the  far  higher  temperature  and  pressure  which 
must  have  existed  under  the  volcanic  or  igneous  theory  ? 

It  seems  a  pity  that  Herr  Luzi  did  not  state  the  exact  weight 
of  the  diamonds  upon  which  he  experimented  both  before  and 
after  his  experiments.  The  burning  or  absorption  of  the  dia- 
mond in  its  matrix  would  be  a  strong  argument  against  the 
diamond  having  been  crystallized  in  situ,  or  that  it  came  up  in  its 
present  matrix  when  such  matrix  was  in  a  molten  state.  If  a 
diamond,  subjected  in  its  own  matrix  or  magma  in  an  ordinary 
graphite  crucible  to  a  temperature  of  1770°  R.,  changes  its  shape 
and  appearance  as  described  by  Herr  Luzi,  —  could  it  be  expected 
that  many  diamonds  in  our  mines  should  be  found  perfect  in 
shape,  without  a  flaw  or  spot,  and  with  clear,  transparent  sides, 
so  smooth  that  they  have  the  appearance  of  having  been  pol- 
ished ?  Nevertheless,  such  is  the  appearance  of  nearly  all  South 
African  diamonds.  It  would  seem  from  the  evidence  brought 
forward  that  only  one  conclusion  is  possible,  namely,  that  the 
blue  ground  in  its  present  state  is  not  the  magma  of  the  dia- 
mond. What  the  original  magma  or  matrix  was  is  unfortu- 
nately far  less  certain.  Some  years  ago  a  diamond,  weighing  28| 
carats,  was  found  at  Kimberley.  The  external  surface  of  the 
diamond  was  smooth  and  crystallized,  showing  no  other  mineral 
except  the  diamond  itself.  The  interior  of  the  diamond  was 
white,  but  not  transparent,  and,  owing  to  its  peculiar  appearance, 
the  valuator  broke  the  stone  in  order  to  satisfy  his  curiosity. 
The  result  of  the  breaking  is  shown  in  the  full-size  illustration 
on  page  507.  A  small  perfect  octahedral  diamond  was  en- 
closed in  the  centre  of  the  larger  diamond.  Nor  was  this  all. 
There  were  flakes  of  a  white  mineral,  not  diamond,  attached  to 


FORMATION    OF   THE   DIAMOND  507 

the  fragments  of  the  broken  diamond.  A  few  grains  of  these 
were  collected  and  analyzed  by  Professor  Lawn,  of  the  Kim- 
berley  School  of  Mines.  In  appearance  the  flakes  were  white, 
translucent,  and  crystalline,  and  about  as  hard  as  the  steel  blade 
of  a  knife.  When  heated  in  a  closed  tube,  moisture  was 
given  off.  The  mineral  was  very  slightly  effervescent,  prob- 
ably due  to  a  trace  of  carbonate  of  lime.  It  fused  readily  on 
platinum  wire  to  a  white  bead. 


Diamond  bearing  a  Smaller  Crystal  in  its  Centre. 

The  mineral  was  determined  to  be  apophyllite,  a  silicate  of 
lime  and  potash  with  16  per  cent  of  water.  If  a  mineral,  which 
is  fusible  at  the  ordinary  temperature  obtained  with  a  blowpipe, 
and  which  contains  16  per  cent  of  water,  was  formed  at  the  same 
time  the  diamond  crystallized,  it  is  certain  that  this  did  not  take 
place  under  the  condition  mentioned  above,  i.e.  under  enormously 
high  temperature.  How,  then,  one  may  ask,  did  the  apophyllite 
become  a  part  of  this  stone  ? 

Von  Tschudi  describes  a  beautiful  crystallized  Brazilian  dia- 


5o8       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

mond,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  a  little  gold  leaf.  He  had  the 
information  from  Dr.  Mills  Franco,  who  maintained  that  there 
was  no  deception  in  its  being  gold.1  Occurrences  of  this  nature 
tend  to  veil  the  genesis  of  the  diamond  in  still  further  mystery. 

Professor  T.  G.  Bonney  lately  obtained  specimens  from  the 
Newlands  mines,  some  forty  miles  northwest  of  Kimberley,  of  a 
coarsely  crystalline  rock  studded  with  garnets,  technically  "  holo- 
crystalline  allied  to  eclogites,"  which  were  embedded,  as  he  says, 
in  typical  blue  ground.  In  this  eclogitic  rock  he  found  a  num- 
ber of  small  but  perfectly  formed  diamonds.  At  a  meeting  of 
the  Royal  Society  in  July,  1899,  ne  presented  his  conclusions: 
"The  blue  ground  is  not  the  birthplace,  either  of  the  diamond 
or  of  the  garnets,  pyroxenes,  olivine,  and  other  minerals,  more 
or  less  fragmental,  which  it  incorporates.  The  diamond  is  a 
constituent  of  the  eclogite,  just  as  much  as  a  zircon  may  be  a 
constituent  of  a  granite  or  a  syenite. 

"  Though  the  occurrence  of  diamonds  in  rocks  with  a  high 
percentage  of  silica  (itacolumite,  granite,  etc.)  has  been  asserted,  the 
statement  needs  corroboration.  This  form  of  crystallized  carbon 
hitherto  has  been  found  only  in  meteoric  iron  (Canon  Diablo), 
and  has  been  produced  artificially  by  Moissan  and  others  with 
the  same  metal  as  matrix.  But  in  eclogite  the  silica  percentage 
is  at  least  as  high  as  in  dolerite ;  hence  it  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand how  so  small  an  amount  of  carbon  escaped  oxidation. 

"  I  had  always  expected  that  a  peridotite  (as  supposed  by 
Professor  Lewis),  if  not  a  material  yet  more  basic,  would  prove 
to  be  the  birthplace  of  the  diamond.  Can  it  possibly  be  a  deriv- 
ative mineral,  even  in  the  eclogite  ?  Had  it  already  crystallized 
out  of  a  more  basic  magma,  which,  however,  was  still  molten 
when  one  more  acid  was  injected  and  the  mixture  became  such 
as  to  form  eclogite  ?  But  I  content  myself  with  indicating  a 
difficulty  and  suggesting  a  possibility ;  the  fact  itself  is  indispu- 
table :  that  the  diamond  occurs,  though  rather  sporadically,  as  a 
constituent  of  an  eclogite,  which  rock,  according  to  the  ordinary 
rules  of  inference,  would  be  regarded  as  its  birthplace. 

1  "Travels  in  South  America,"  by  J.  J.  von  Tschudi. 


FORMATION   OF   THE    DIAMOND  509 

"  This  discovery  closes  another  controversy,  viz.,  that  con- 
cerning the  nature  of  the  '  hard  blue '  of  the  mines  (kimberlite 
of  Professor  Lewis)  in  which  the  diamond  is  usually  found.  The 
boulders  described  in  this  paper  are  truly  water-worn.  The 
idea  that  they  have  been  rounded  by  a  sort  of  '  cup  and  ball ' 
game  played  by  a  volcano  may  be  dismissed  as  practically  im- 
possible. Any  such  process  would  take  a  long  time,  but  the 
absence  of  true  scoria  implies  that  the  explosive  phase  was  a 
brief  one.  They  resemble  stones  which  have  travelled  for  several 
miles  down  a  mountain  torrent,  and  must  have  been  derived 
from  a  coarse  conglomerate,  manufactured  by  either  a  strong 
stream  or  the  waves  of  the  sea  from  fragments  obtained  from 
more  ancient  crystalline  rocks.  .  .  . 

"  The  presence  of  water-worn  fragments,  large  and  small,  in 
considerable  abundance,  shows  the  blue  ground  to  be  a  true 
breccia,  produced  by  the  destruction  of  various  rocks  (some  of 
them  crystalline,  others  sedimentary,  but  occasionally  including 
water-worn  boulders  of  the  former),  i.e.  a  result  of  shattering 
explosions  followed  by  solfataric  action.  Hence  the  name  kim- 
berlite must  disappear  from  the  list  of  peridotites,  and  even  from 
petrological  literature,  unless  it  be  retained  for  this  remarkable 
type  of  breccia. 

"  Boulders,  such  as  we  have  described,  might  be  expected  to 
occur  at  the  base  of  the  sedimentary  series,  in  proximity  to  a 
crystalline  floor.  The  karoo  beds  in  South  Africa  .  .  .  are 
underlain  in  many  places  by  a  coarse  conglomerate  of  consider- 
able thickness  and  great  extent,  called  the  Dwyka  conglomerate, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  Permian  or  Permo-carboniferous  in  age. 
It  crops  out  from  beneath  the  karoo  beds  at  no  great  distance 
from  the  diamond-bearing  district  and  very  probably  extends 
beneath  it.  If  this  deposit  has  supplied  the  boulders,  the  date 
of  the  genesis  of  the  diamond  is  carried  back,  at  the  very  least, 
to  Palaeozoic  ages,  and  possibly  to  a  still  earlier  era  in  the  earth's 
history."  1 

1  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society,  Vol.  LXV,  pp.  235,  236,  July  27,  1899. 
"The  Parent  Rock  of  the  Diamond  in  South  Africa,"  Prof.  T.  G.  Bonney. 


510      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

I  cannot  accept  the  contention  that  the  boulders  came  from 
any  strata  through  which  the  pipes  have  been  formed,  unless 
these  strata  lie  very  deep  and  below  the  quartzite. 

The  conglomerate  which  lies  between  the  shale  and  mela- 
phyre  is  only  a  few  feet  thick,  ten  to  fifteen  at  most,  and  does 
not  contain  large  boulders  such  as  are  found  in  the  blue  ground  ; 
besides,  the  quantity  of  boulders  or  conglomerate  which  could 
have  been  contained  in  the  area  of  the  mine  would  not  have 
supplied  the  amount  of  stones  already  found  in  the  blue  ground. 
These  must,  therefore,  have  come  up  from  below  with  the  dia- 
mond-bearing ground.  If  the  boulders  came  from  the  Dwyka 
conglomerate,  it  must  lie  very  deep  beneath  the  surface,  for 
nothing  of  the  kind  has  been  found  at  a  depth  of  over  twenty- 
one  hundred  feet. 

Professor  Bonney  says  above  that  the  statement  of  the  occur- 
rence of  diamonds  in  itacolumite l  needs  corroboration.  There 
is  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind  that  diamonds  in  Brazil  have  been 
found  in  itacolumite,  and  the  consensus  of  opinion  is  that  it  is 
not  the  original  matrix,  but  that  the  diamonds  were  washed  from 
their  volcanic  origin  and  became  bedded  in  this  sandstone  when 
it  was  being  formed. 

I  have  been  frequently  asked,  "  What  is  your  theory  of  the 
original  crystallization  of  the  diamond  ? "  and  the  answer  has 
always  been,  "  I  have  none  ;  for  after  seventeen  years  of  thought- 
ful study  coupled  with  practical  research  I  find  that  it  is  easier 
to  '  drive  a  coach  and  four '  through  most  theories  which  have 
been  propounded  than  to  suggest  one  which  would  be  based 
upon  any  more  unassailable  data."  All  that  can  be  said  is  that 
in  some  unknown  manner  carbon,  which  existed  down  deep  in 
the  internal  regions  of  the  earth,  was  changed  from  its  black  and 
uninviting  appearance  to  the  most  beautiful  gem  which  ever  saw 
the  light  of  day. 

1  Brittle  quartz  sandstone  of  slaty  (schistose)  character.  —  Heusser. 


CHAPTER   XVII 


THE     DIAMOND    MARKET 


N  preceding  chapters  the  extraction  of  the  blue 
ground  and  the  winning  of  the  precious  stones 
have  been  fully  described.  It  remains  to  trace 
the  handling  of  the  diamonds  from  this  point 
until  they  reach  the  hands  of  the  jewellers  and 
are  spread  broadcast  in  glittering  array  over  the 
face  of  the  world,  or  applied  to  uses  less  showy  than  adornment. 
After  the  diamonds  are  separated  and  collected  at  the  Pul- 
sator,  they  are  cleaned  and  sent  under  guard  to  the  diamond 
office,  which  is  in  the  general  offices  of  the  Company.  Here 
the  crystals  are  boiled  in  a  mixture  of  nitric  and  sulphuric  acid 
to  remove  any  particles  of  earth  which  may  adhere  to  them. 
They  are  then  thoroughly  rinsed  with  clear  water  to  get  rid  of 
the  acids,  and  finally  washed  in  alcohol  and  spread  out  on  tables 
to  dry.  The  alcohol  seems  to  clean  the  diamonds  and  leaves 
them  brighter  than  when  water  alone  is  used. 

The  daily  productions  of  diamonds  are  put  away  in  parcels 
until  there  is  an  accumulation  of  about  50,000  carats  of  De 
Beers  and  Kimberley  diamonds.  The  diamonds  from  these 
two  mines  are  mixed  and  are  known  locally  as  "  pool  goods." 
When  the  requisite  quantity  is  at  hand,  the  mixed  stones  are 
screened  to  grade  the  sizes,  after  first  taking  out  the  larger 
diamonds  by  hand.  They  are  then  ready  to  pass  to  the  hands 
of  the  sorters,  who  separate  and  classify  them  for  accurate  valua- 
tion. The  chief  classifications  in  use  are  — 

i.  Close  goods.  2.  Spotted  stones.  3.  Rejection  cleavage. 
4.  Fine  cleavage.  5.  Light-brown  cleavage.  6.  Ordinary  and 
rejection  cleavage.  7.  Flats.  8.  Maacles.  9.  Rubbish.  10.  Boart. 

5" 


5i2       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

"  Close  goods "  are  pure,  well-shaped  stones ;  "  spotted 
stones "  are  crystals  slightly  spotted ;  and  "  rejection  "  stones 
seriously  depreciated  by  spots.  Broken  stones  are  grouped 
under  the  head  of  "  cleavage."  Flat  crystals  formed  by  the 
distortion  of  octahedra  are  classed  as  flats,  and  flat  triangular 
crystals,  which  are  in  reality  twin  stones,  are  marked  as  maacles. 
"  Rubbish  "  is  the  refuse,  ranking  a  little  better  than  the  lowest 
grade  of  all,  ordinary  "  boart "  the  material  used  for  polishing 
purposes.  Round  or  shot  boart  is  found  in  the  mines  at 


Diamond  Sorters  and  Valuators,  through  whose  hands  ,£4,000,000  worth  of  Diamonds 

pass  annually. 

Kimberley  and  is  very  valuable  for  use  in  diamond  drills  since 
the  Brazilian  carbonado  has  become  so  scarce.  Well-formed 
shot  boart,  averaging  about  the  size  of  peas,  sells  readily  for  £6 
a  carat. 

After  this  separation  has  been  made,  the  first  eight  classes  are 
each  further  subdivided  according  to  their  shades  of  color.  The 
scale  is  given  below  in  descending  order  of  purity  — 

Blue  White,  First  Cape,  Second  Cape,  First  Bye,  Second 
Bye,  Off  Color,  Light  Yellow,  Yellow. 

Only  the  first  grade,  or  close  goods,  are  carefully  distin- 
guished by  separation  of  all  eight  shades.  For  other  classes  a 


THE   DIAMOND    MARKET  513 

smaller  number  of  shade  divisions  is  noted.  It  may  be  per- 
ceived that  the  minute  distinctions  of  this  separation  can  only  be 
made  by  the  trained  eyes  of  experts.  No  magnifying  glasses 
are  used  by  the  sorters,  all  being  able  to  make  the  distinctions 
with  the  naked  eye.  Ten  sorters  are  employed,  all  Europeans, 
two  women  and  eight  men.  To  replace  any  who  leave,  ap- 
prentices are  trained  to  the  work  at  Kimberley.  The  sorters 
determine  the  quality  of  diamonds  with  notable  accuracy  and 
speed. 

De  Beers  mine  is  noted  for  yielding  an  exceptionally  large 
percentage  of  ordinary  "  yellows,"  a  very  small  percentage  of 
very  "  dark  yellows,"  a  limited  number  of  brilliant  "  silver 
Capes,"  and  considerable  "  light-brown  cleavage  "  of  a  delicate 
shade.  The  very  "  dark  yellows  "  are  ranked  as  "  fancies  "  and 
highly  valued,  and  the  "silver  Capes"  are  also  rated  highly,  as 
they  have  great  lustre  when  cut  as  brilliants,  but  absolutely 
white  or  colorless  stones  are  rarely  found  in  this  mine. 

Kimberley  mine  yields  a  fair  proportion  of  "  white  crystals," 
a  good  percentage  of  "  white  cleavage,"  and  quite  a  remarkable 
percentage  of  large  "  maacles."  It  also  produces  a  fairly  large 
proportion  of  "  yellows,"  generally  somewhat  lighter  in  color 
than  those  from  De  Beers. 

Dutoitspan  mine  yields  some  very  fine  blue-white  stones, 
"  silver  Capes  "  and  ordinary  "  white  "  stones  and  "  cleavage  " 
of  comparatively  fine  quality,  together  with  large  "  yellows," 
showing  an  exceptional  proportion  of  large  stones,  and  a  com- 
paratively small  percentage  of  very  minute  crystals. 

Bultfontein's  product  is  very  largely  composed  of  white 
stones,  but  many  of  these  are  spotted  more  or  less ;  its  diamonds 
are  also  comparatively  small,  usually  ranging  from  two  to  three 
carats  downwards. 

The  diamonds  from  Premier  mine  are  mostly  octahedron 
crystals,  or  fragments  of  these,  with  a  large  percentage  of  rub- 
bish and  boart.  Beautiful,  deep-orange  colored  diamonds  are 
frequently  found,  and  blue-white  stones  are  not  uncommon. 

When   the   sorting   has   been  completed,  the   diamonds  are 

2  L 


THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

placed  in  little  heaps  on  a  long  table  covered  with  white  paper. 
In  all  cases,  except  in  small  sizes  and  boart,  where  the  weight 
and  value  only  are  recorded,  the  number  of  diamonds  in  each 
heap  and  their  average  weights  and  values  are  carefully  recorded 
in  a  book  kept  for  that  purpose.  This  exhibit  was  previously 
made  also  for  the  benefit  of  buyers  calling  at  the  diamond  office, 
who  could  thus  readily  value  the  stones  ;  but  of  late  years  the 
entire  product  has  been  sold  to  a  syndicate  composed  of  the 
leading  diamond  merchants  of  Holborn  Viaduct  and  Hatton 
Garden,  London.  The  careful  sorting  and  arrangement  are 
nevertheless  continued  in  order  to  determine  precisely  what  the 
relative  quality  and  value  of  the  diamonds  are  in  passing  from 
level  to  level  as  the  mine  grows  deeper.  The  buyers  know  the 
exact  value  of  every  shipment  they  make,  and  the  De  Beers 
Company  must  also  be  informed  of  any  changes  for  better 
or  for  worse  in  the  value  of  its  production,  so  as  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  them  in  the  former  case,  or  make  allowances  to 
the  syndicate  upon  the  renewal  of  the  contract,  in  case  the 
quality  should  become  poorer.  These  are  perhaps  remote  con- 
ditions, for,  up  to  the  present  time,  the  average  monthly  or 
annual  production  of  diamonds  has  been  remarkably  regular  in 
quality. 

For  the  safe-keeping  of  the  gems  in  the  Company's  office 
there  is  a  strong  room  or  vault,  built  of  very  thick  concrete 
walls,  which  are  fire  and  burglar  proof.  The  door  of  the  vault 
is  secured  by  several  bank  locks  of  the  latest  and  best  design. 
The  keys  fitting  these  locks  are  kept  by  several  officers  in  the 
secretary's  department  of  the  Company,  who  must  all  be  present 
at  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  strong  room.  Inside  the 
strong  room  are  burglar-proof  safes,  with  doors  also  secured  by 
several  locks,  which  can  only  be  opened  by  two  or  more  persons 
having  separate  keys.  In  addition  to  these  safeguards,  the 
strong  room  is  protected  by  the  application  of  an  electric  alarm 
system.  Two  armed  guards  are  on  duty  at  the  offices  at  night, 
and  connections  are  made  by  which  they  can  signal  for  help 
should  an  attempt  be  made  to  break  into  the  building.  Even 


THE    DIAMOND    MARKET 


if  both  men  should  be  overpowered  before  they  could  give 
a  signal,  no  robbery  could  be  effected ;  for,  as  soon  as  they 
should  cease  to  send  test  signal  reports  at  regular  intervals,  an 
armed  force  would  soon  arrive  on  the  ground  and  frustrate  any 
attempted  burglary.  Under  existing  conditions  for  the  sale  of 
diamonds  only  a  small  quantity  of  precious  stones  are  kept  at 
the  diamond  office ;  but,  in  former  years,  the  quantity,  at  times, 
has  been  very  large  and  the  most  stringent  precautions  were 


A  De  Beers  Group. 

necessary.  It  may  be  noted  further  that  adequate  measures 
have  been  taken  also  to  protect  the  office  from  assault  in  the 
daytime. 

Of  late  years,  with  improved  methods  of  working,  a  larger 
percentage  of  small  diamonds  has  been  recovered  from  the  blue 
ground.  In  order  to  have  an  average  quantity  of  these  in 
each  parcel  made  up  for  the  buyers,  a  fixed  percentage  of  small 
stones  is  included  in  the  parcel.  If  there  is  any  surplus,  it 
is  valued  in  the  ordinary  way  and  sold  to  the  buyers  at  a  valu- 
ation agreed  upon  between  the  seller  and  buyer.  After  the 


5i6      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

diamonds  are  sorted,  they  are  put  into  square  tin  boxes,  fitting 
into  tin  cases  like  despatch  boxes,  which  have  tightly  fitting, 
locked  covers.  A  despatch  box  will  contain  about  forty  tin 
boxes. 

All  De  Beers  diamonds  are  delivered  to  the  buyers  at  the 
diamond  office  of  the  Company  and  paid  for  at  once  in  cash  or 
in  bills  on  London,  as  the  Company  may  prefer.  After  delivery 
to  the  buyers  the  diamonds  are  sorted  over  again  for  the  London 
market,  which  desires  a  classification  of  the  stones  for  different 
purposes  than  valuation  simply. 

They  are  reasserted  according  to  quality  into  from  350  to  400 
different  parcels.  Each  parcel  is  put  into  specially  made  papers 
bearing  on  their  face  a  description  of  their  contents.  Then 
these  parcels  are  packed  in  tin  boxes  which  are  securely  wrapped 
in  cloth-lined  packing  paper,  carefully  sealed  and  delivered  to 
the  post-office,  which  forwards  them  to  Europe  as  registered 
mail.  All  diamonds  so  forwarded  are  insured  with  insurance 
companies  in  Europe. 

Classification  is  made  into  — 

Pure  goods  "i 

Brown  goods  I  Completely  formed 
Spotted  goods  or  crystallized  stones. 

Flat-shaped  goods  J 

Pure  cleavage        "1  „ 

„  .    .   '  Broken  crystals 

bpotted  cleavage    >  .. 

_*  or  split  stones. 

Brown  cleavage     J 

XT  A/I       i       f  Flat,  triangular  crystals, 

Naats  or  Maacles  •{       .         ..  °      .     J 

[_      m  reality  twin  stones. 

fUncuttable  diamonds  used  mostly 
for  splitting  and  polishing  more 
perfect  crystals. 

Most  of  the  above  classifications,  except  rejections  and  boart, 
are  subdivided  into  six  or  seven  colors,  and  each  color  is  again 
subdivided  into  eight,  ten,  or  twelve  sizes. 


THE    DIAMOND    MARKET 


Si? 


THE  PERCENTAGES  OF  DIAMONDS  IN  THE  VARIOUS  CLASSES 


DE  BEERS  AND 

KlMBEKLEV 

MINES 
POOL  GOODS. 

PREMIER 

MINE. 

JAGERSFONTEIN  MINE. 

Pure 
Stones 

Spoiled 
Cleavag 
one  ef 
Chips,  i 
under 
Chips,  s 
under 
Maacles 
pure  a 
Rejectio 
descri 
Boart,  d 
cutlim 

'  Close  goods,  stones  over 

4-i% 
1.6% 

3-1% 
1.6% 

8.1% 
38-8% 
I.   % 

12.6% 

4-3% 
17-5% 
7-3% 

8.7%  all  sizes 
4-   % 

4-2% 

6.6% 

0     \  including 
28-2imaacles 

1.2% 

5-5% 

16.2% 
254% 

(  all  sizes,  and  includ- 
ii.7%-j     ing  slightly  colored 
I    and  brown  stones 

204%  fa"    Sizes    and    de- 
(    scnptions 

39-   % 
10.6% 

4-3% 
3-5% 
10.5% 

Irregular  shapes  of  all 

Melee  o(  all  sizes  under 

,.  Brown  stones  of  all  sizes. 
Stones  of  all  sizes  .  .  . 
ss,  pure  and  spotted,  over 
rat  ... 

>ure  pieces  of  all  sizes 
one  carat  

potted  pieces  of  all  sizes 

(Naals)  and  Flat  Stones, 
nd  spotted,  all  sizes  .  . 
ns,  lowest  quality  of  above 
ptions  

iamonds  not  suitable  for 

r 

100.     % 

too.  % 

100.  % 

When  the  diamonds  arrive  in  London,  they  are  again  re- 
assorted  for  sale,  i.e.  in  the  manner  that  will  best  suit  the  customs 
and  requirements  of  the  trade.  The  London  importers  sell 
(a)  to  merchants  of  rough  diamonds,  who  again  resell  the  goods 
in  their  rough  state,  (b)  to  merchants  of  brilliants  who  get  their 
purchases  cut  and  polished  for  sale,  (c)  to  actual  manufacturers 
who,  buying  for  their  own  account,  cut  and  polish  the  goods  and 
then  resell  with  profit  as  compared  to  the  manufacturer  who 
works  for  a  fixed  cutting  charge. 

It  is  of  interest  to  compare  the  present  elaborate  method  of 
assorting  and  valuing  with  that  obtaining  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury and  previously  in  the  European  market.  It  was  the  custom 
then  to  forward  diamonds  from  India  in  "  bulces  "  or  parcels 
neatly  wrapped  in  muslin  and  sealed  by  the  sellers.  The  largest 
stones  were  never  offered  for  sale,  but  reserved  by  the  native 
owners,  as  David  Jeffries  observes,  to  aggrandize  their  families. 
He  states  further  that  "the  head  of  the  family  has  a  small  shal- 


5i8      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

low  hole  drilled  in  the  surface  of  the  stone,  and  when  he  dies 
the  next  chief  does  the  same,  and  so  from  one  to  another,  and 
the  more  of  these  holes  a  stone  has  the  higher  it  is  in  esteem, 
although  such  holes  may  prejudice  it  if  it  were  to  be  manufac- 
tured ;  but  as  that  is  never  intended,  they  do  not  regard  such 
prejudice ;  and  these  stones  are  never  parted  with,  let  what  will 
happen,  and  if  they  foresee  any  ruin  to  the  family  ...  in  such 
cases  they  bury  these  stones,  so  that  they  never  appear  again." 
The  other  stones,  comprising  the  small  and  middle  size  and  some 
of  the  large  ones,  were  put  in  the  parcels  for  sale  unassorted  and 


The  Officials  who  manage  the  Benefit  Society,  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited. 

"  valued  by  the  lump,  as  they  weigh  one  with  another,  by  the 
rule."  In  the  European  markets  such  parcels  were  generally 
bought,  he  states,  "  by  the  invoice,  that  is  before  they  are  opened, 
it  being  always  supposed  they  contain  the  value  which  they  were 
sold  for  in  India;  and  the  buyer  here  gives  the  merchant  such  a 
profit  as  contents  him.  The  diamonds  being  thus  bought,  the 
buyer  opens  the  parcel,  separates  them,  and  then  values  them 
separately  as  his  judgment  directs ;  making  to  himself  likewise 
such  a  profit  upon  the  whole  parcel  as  he  thinks  proper." 
This  expert  jeweller  notes  with  regret  that  at  the  time  of  his 

1  "A  Treatise  on   Diamonds   and    Pearls,"   David  Jeffries,   London,    1751, 
pp.   1 1 8,  119. 


THE    DIAMOND    MARKET 


520       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

writing,  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  there  was  no 
uniform  standard  of  valuation  and  that  the  purchase  of  large 
stones  in  particular  was  essentially  a  gambling  speculation.  In 
the  East  Indian  market  there  was  a  persistent  effort  to  maintain 
fixed  prices,  and  there  was  comparatively  little  fluctuation  in  the 
market  rates  of  the  East  Indian  stones,  but  the  diamonds  of 
Brazil  were  thrown  irregularly  on  the  market,  so  that  the  supply 
ranged  from  a  dearth  to  a  glut,  and  the  prices  were  so  greatly 
fluctuating  that  any  investment  in  these  stones  was  extra  hazard- 
ous. Mr.  Jeffries  marked  clearly  the  disastrous  consequences 
of  greatly  varying  products  and  prices  in  the  marketing  of 
precious  stones.  He  reached  the  conclusion  "  that  to  maintain 
as  invariable  a  price  of  these  jewels  [diamonds]  as  is  possible 
must  be  of  the  greatest  utility  to  the  public,"  and  gave  high 
praise  to  the  owners  of  East  Indian  diamond  fields  and  diamond 
merchants  because  they  did  not  flood  the  market  regardless  of 
the  diamond,  like  the  Brazilian  producers.  He  notes  a  shift  of 
fully  33  per  cent  in  the  market  rate  of  diamonds  in  a  single  year. 
In  1733  the  value  of  Brazil  diamonds  fell  to  a  point  below  20 
shillings  per  carat  for  rough  diamonds,  and  within  20  years  ran 
up  to  more  than  treble  this  price. 

One  of  the  simplest  and  oldest  divisions  in  grading  and  in 
the  measure  of  values  of  diamonds  and  other  precious  stones  is 
in  accordance  with  their  weight.  The  transmitted  measure  of 
weight  is  the  carat,  derived  from  the  Greek  Kepdnov,  the  fruit 
of  a  variety  of  acacia,  whose  remarkably  uniform  seeds  served  as 
convenient  measures  of  value  of  diamonds  and  other  precious 
stones,  and  is  equivalent  to  4  grains  avoirdupois  or  3.174  grains 
troy  weight.  In  market  quotations  from  year  to  year  and  in 
contracts  for  sorted  diamonds  the  valuation  is  expressed  in  a 
stated  price  per  carat.  Von  Tschudi  states  that  the  word  carat 
is  derived  from  kaura,  an  African  creeping  plant,  whose  red 
seeds  specked  with  black  were  used  for  weighing  gold  in  Africa 
and  diamonds  in  India.  On  the  supposition  that  £1  may  be 
reckoned  the  general  or  average  price  of  a  rough  diamond  of 
one  carat  weight,  Mr.  Jeffries  gives  two  methods  or  formulas 


THE    DIAMOND    MARKET  521 

for  computing  the  values  of  "  wrought,"  or  as  we  would  say 
"  cut,"  diamonds.  First,  the  weight  of  the  cut  stone  should  be 
doubled,  to  offset  the  loss  of  one-half  in  working ;  then  this 
figure  or  figures  should  be  squared,  and  the  product  multiplied 
by  the  price  per  carat.  Thus  a  cut  stone  weighing  one  carat 
would  be  valued  by  multiplying  2  by  2  by  2,  or  at  ^£8,  and  a 
stone  weighing  5  carats  by  multiplying  10  by  10  by  2,  or  at 
^200.  By  the  second  method,  the  calculation  is  made  on  the 
basis  of  the  valuation  of  a  cut  stone  weighing  one  carat,  at  _£8, 
as  before  determined.  Then  to  find  the  value  of  a  stone  of  any 
given  number  of  carats,  multiply  the  number  by  8,  and  the  multi- 
plicand will  be  the  estimated  value  of  every  carat  in  the  stone. 
The  total  value  may  then  be  reached  by  multiplying  the  number 
of  carats  by  this  multiplicand.  For  example,  if  a  given  stone 
weighs  5^  carats,  the  value  of  every  carat  in  the  stone  will  be 
found  by  multiplying  by  8  to  be  £^\.  Then  multiply  ^41  by 
5^  and  the  result  will  be  ^210  is.  6d. ;  the  estimated  value  of 
a  cut  stone  weighing  5^  carats.  It  was  the  expectation  of  Mr. 
Jeffries  that  the  general  adoption  of  his  method  of  valuation 
would  go  far  to  fix  the  price  of  diamonds,  and  it  did  prevail  for 
more  than  a  century  before  falling  into  disuse. 

Production  of  Diamonds 

De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines.  During  the  eleven  years  end- 
ing June  30,  1899,  the  yield  of  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines 
has  been  24,476,000  carats  of  diamonds  in  round  figures,  which 
would  measure  about  72  cubic  feet,  showing  an  average  of  some- 
thing more  than  2,200,000  carats  annually.  Compared  with 
this  product,  the  production  of  the  other  diamond  fields  of  the 
world,  with  the  exception  of  Jagersfontein,  is  comparatively  un- 
important, not  exceeding  5  per  cent  of  the  total. 

The  Orange  River  Colony.  The  principal  diamond-producing 
mine  in  this  colony  is  Jagersfontein,  which  has  averaged  about 
250,000  carats  annually  for  several  years  past.  The  Jagers- 
fontein mine  is  controlled  by  the  syndicate  which  has  for  many 
years  purchased  the  total  production  of  De  Beers  Company. 


522      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

There  are  a  few  other  diamond  mines  in  the  Orange  River 
Colony,  but  the  yield  of  diamonds  from  all  of  them  combined 
is  small  in  comparison  with  Jagersfontein.  The  total  output  of 
diamonds  from  Jagersfontein  up  to  March,  1901,  was  2,168,399^ 
carats,  valued  at  ^£3,923,940. 


P«UI  h.,,. 

•-*•',  men- 


Photograph  of  a  Book  with  the  Leaves  cut  out  in  the  Centre,  used  by  an  Illicit  Diamond 
Dealer  to  send  Diamonds  through  the  Mails  to  England. 

Transvaal.  There  are  alluvial  diggings  along  the  banks  of 
the  Vaal  River  a  few  miles  above  the  river  diggings  in  Griqua- 
land  West,  Cape  Colony.  The  town  of  Christiana  is  situated 
near  these  diggings,  lying  just  outside  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Cape  Colony  and  the  late  Orange  Free  State  (now  Orange  River 
Colony),  in  which  Colonies  the  Diamond  Trade  Act,  which  for- 
bids dealing  in  rough  diamonds  except  by  licensed  dealers,  is  in 


THE    DIAMOND    MARKET  523 

force.  A  large  illicit  trade  has  been  carried  on  at  Christiana  for 
many  years  in  diamonds  stolen  in  Kimberley  and  the  river  dig- 
gings in  the  Cape  Colony.  A  few  years  ago  the  Government  of 
the  late  South  African  Republic  passed  certain  laws  in  reference 
to  the  registration  of  diamonds,  but  these  laws  were  not  stringent 
enough  to  stop  the  illicit  traffic.  Diamonds  have  also  been 
found  at  Rietfontein,  near  Pretoria,  but  up  to  the  present  time 
the  total  yield  has  been  very  small.  A  few  years  ago  there  was 
a  remarkable  occurrence  of  diamonds  in  the  conglomerate  gold 
ores  from  the  mines  at  Klerksdorp,  when  several  green  diamonds 
were  found  in  the  battery  box.  As  the  conglomerate  is  a  sedi- 
mentary formation,  the  diamonds  must  have  been  washed  into 
it  from  some  crater  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  depositing  of 
diamonds  in  the  itacolumite  of  Brazil. 

Outside  of  South  Africa  the  diamond  fields  of  any  deter- 
mined value  are  in  Brazil,  India,  New  South  Wales,  and  Borneo. 

Brazil.  There  was  a  revival  of  the  diamond-mining  industry 
to  some  extent  in  the  Brazilian  fields,  owing  to  the  diminution 
of  the  South  African  product  by  the  Transvaal  War.  The  State 
places  a  duty  of  16  per  cent  on  the  valuation  of  all  diamonds 
produced,  and  there  is  in  addition  a  tax  of  i  per  cent  demanded 
by  the  municipalities.  Owing  to  the  tax  evasion,  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  the  total  annual  product.  The  value  of  exports 
from  Minas  Geraes  during  the  first  half  of  1900  was  reported 
at  250,000  milreis,  $140,000. 

Mr.  A.  de  Jaeger  has  estimated  the  total  production  of 
Brazilian  stones  from  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  diamond 
fields  at  12,000,000  carats,  valued  roundly  at  $100,000,000. 
It  is  stated,  however,  in  "The  Mineral  Industry,"  presenting 
probably  the  best  extant  record,  that  the  best  available  statistics 
show  that  the  total  output  of  Brazil,  up  to  and  including  1898, 
was  13,105,000  carats.1 

Dr.   Le   Neve    Foster,  one   of  his    Majesty's   inspectors  of 
mines,  in  his  Annual  Report  on  Mines  for  1899,  says:  "Com- 
pared with  the   output  of  Kimberley,  the   total    production  of 
'"The  Mineral  Industry,"  1899,  p.  222. 


524      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

diamonds  in  Brazil  for  the  year,  estimated  at  40,000  carats,  is 
at  present  insignificant.  .  .  .  The  most  important  diamond  dis- 
tricts in  Brazil  are  Diamantina,  Grao  Mogul,  Chapada  Diaman- 
tina,  Bagagem,  Goyaz,  and  Matto  Grosso." 

India.  In  the  same  report  the  quantity  of  diamonds  pro- 
duced in  India  for  1898  is  given  at  170  carats,  valued  at  10,873 
rupees,  and  for  1899,  124  carats,  valued  at  Son  rupees. 

New  South  Wales.  The  existence  of  diamonds  in  New  South 
Wales  was  made  known  as  early  as  1859,  by  Rev.  B.  W.  Clarke, 
who  received  in  that  year  several  specimens  from  the  Macqua- 
rie  River,  Burrendong,  and  Pyramul  and  Calabash  Creeks.  It 
was  not,  however,  until  the  rush  for  the  gold  diggings,  seven  or 
eight  years  later,  that  any  considerable  number  of  diamonds  was 
found,  when  the  gold  digging  along  the  Cudgegong  River,  about 
nineteen  miles  northwest  of  Mudgee,  brought  to  light  diamonds 
in  an  old  river  drift,  generally  covered  with  a  layer  of  basalt. 

The  diamonds  were  sparsely  distributed  through  the  gravel, 
and  were  usually  small,  the  largest  of  the  stones,  a  colorless 
octahedron,  weighing  only  £|-  carats.  Later,  other  diamond 
fields  were  opened  near  Bingera,  on  the  river  Hoclon,  and  in 
the  tin-mining  districts  near  Inverell.  The  diamonds  occur  in 
alluvial  gravel  wash  in  the  beds  of  ancient  rivers.  This  gravel 
carries  tin  ore  or  gold  in  places,  and  usually  one  or  both  of 
these  are  won  with  the  diamonds.  These  ancient  river  channels 
resemble  those  in  California,  in  which  diamonds  were  occasionally 
found  with  the  gold.  Many  of  these  rivers  lie  buried  beneath 
lava  hundreds  of  feet  thick,  and  the  diamonds  are  won  by  driv- 
ing long  tunnels  and  drifting  out  the  gravel  lying  on  the  bed  rock. 

Dr.  C.  Le  Neve  Foster  gives  the  production  in  New  South 
Wales  for  1898  as  16,493  carats,  valued  at  ^"6060,  and  for 
1899,  25,874  carats,  valued  at  .£10,350.  These  figures  give  an 
average  value  per  carat  of  seven  shillings  and  four  pence  and 
eight  shillings  respectively,  as  compared  with  forty  shillings  per 
carat  for  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines. 

Borneo.  The  estimated  production  of  diamonds  in  Western 
Borneo  was  1190  carats  for  1897,  anc^  I95°  carats  for  1898. 


THE    DIAMOND    MARKET  525 

British  Guiana.  Some  attention  has  been  drawn  of  late  to 
the  reported  diamantiferous  deposits  in  British  Guiana.  It  is 
stated  that  there  was  a  shipment  of  282  specimens  from  this 
field  to  London  early  in  1900,  and,  later  in  the  year,  400  small 
stones  were  brought  to  Georgetown.  The  location  of  the  de- 
posits is  reported  to  be  on  the  Mazaruni  River,  about  250  miles 
from  its  mouth.  The  diamonds  have  been  found  in  an  alluvial 
formation,  consisting  of  sandy  clay  mixed  with  pebbles  and  frag- 
ments of  ironstone,  quartz,  and  felsite.1 

Importation  of  Diamonds 

In  the  importation  of  diamonds  the  United  States  leads,  and 
England,  Germany,  France,  and  Italy  follow  in  the  order  named. 
The  increase  in  the  demand  of  the  United  States  has  been  ex- 
traordinary, showing  an  advance  of  fully  2000  per  cent  in  the 
last  fifty  years.  In  1899  the  valuation  of  the  total  import  of 
precious  stones  was  $17,208,531.  In  1900  there  was  a  falling 
oft"  of  about  13,850,000  owing  to  the  interruption  in  the  supply, 
but  the  records  of  the  year  1901  indicate  a  probable  importation 
exceeding  $20,000,000,  the  total  for  the  first  two  months  of  the 
year  reaching  $3,870,359.31,  an  increase  of  $2,674,787.88  over 
the  import  of  the  corresponding  months  in  1900.  The  importa- 
tion is  a  close  measure  of  the  total  sale,  as  the  production  of 
precious  stones  in  the  United  States  only  reached  a  valuation 
of  $185,770  in  1899,  and  this  was  larger  than  in  any  previous 
year.  Nearly  five-sixths  of  this  native  product  is  made  up  of 
sapphires  and  turquoises. 

Rubies,  emeralds,  sapphires,  and  pearls  are  the  gems  most 
commonly  used  in  settings  in  combination  with  diamonds.  It  is 
estimated  by  Mr.  George  F.  Kunz,  of  New  York,  an  expert  of 
international  reputation,  that  the  value  of  the  diamonds  imported 
into  the  United  States  is  approximately  75  per  cent  of  the  valua- 
tion of  all  precious  stories  and  pearls  imported,  and  it  is  judged  that 
this  consumption  fairly  represented  the  percentage  in  other  coun- 
tries. The  changes  in  settings  from  year  to  year  and  even  from 
decade  to  decade  are  not  very  pronounced.  The  resetting  of 
1  "  The  Mineral  Industry,"  1900. 


526      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

stones  is  an  appreciable  fraction  of  the  jeweller's  business,  but  in- 
considerable in  comparison  with  the  setting  of  newly  cut  stones. 

The  World's  Stock 

Diamonds  are  so  highly  prized  and  so  imperishable  that  the 
amount  of  these  gems  in  existence  to-day  may  almost  be  reck- 
oned as  the  total  of  the  world's  production,  ranging  in  value 
through  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars.  Mr.  Kunz  does  not 
estimate  a  loss  of  5  per  cent  in  a  hundred  years,  and  the  South 
African  Diamond  Fields  alone  have  contributed  over  $400,000,- 
ooo,  or  ;£  8  0,000,000,  in  value  to  the  world's  stock.  Yet  the 
demand  advances  apace  with  the  world's  growth  in  wealth,  and 
no  diversion  of  the  world's  fancy  is  apparent.  The  plunder  of 
Delhi  by  Nadir  Shah  in  1739  has  been  estimated  at  $300,000,- 
ooo,1  and  a  great  share  of  this  was  precious  stones.  There  may 
never  again  be  such  a  collection  in  the  hands  of  any  monarch  or 
nabob  as  the  store  amassed  by  the  Great  Moguls,  but  the  crown 
jewels  and  private  treasures  of  the  leading  courts  of  Europe 
to-day  are  of  immense  value  and  are  growing  greater. 

The  crown  jewels  of  France  were  estimated  at  $6,000,000 
(;£  i, 200,000)  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  even  this  great 
amount  is  far  exceeded  by  the  value  of  the  Russian  crown 
jewels.  The  crown  of  Ivan  Alexiowitch  contained  88 1  brilliants, 
the  Empress  Catherine  had  2536  brilliants  in  her  crown,  and 
the  purchases  of  succeeding  Czars  have  been  enormous.  At  the 
London  Industrial  Exposition  in  1851  a  firm  of  Russian  jewellers 
exhibited  a  superb  diadem  on  which  were  mounted  1 1  beautiful 
opals,  67  rubies,  1811  brilliants,  and  1712  rose-cut  diamonds.2 

The  British  crown  jewels  do  not  equal  the  Russian  in  num- 
ber or  value,  though  there  are  other  magnificent  gems  among 
them  besides  the  Koh-i-nur,  whose  romantic  story  is  told  in  a 
former  chapter.  The  crown  specially  made  for  the  coronation 
of  the  late  Queen  Victoria,  in  1838,  was  regarded  as  a  superb 
showing  of  the  art  of  the  leading  jewellers  of  London  as  well  as 

1  "Great  Diamonds  of  the  World,"  Streeter. 

2  "A  Popular  Treatise  on  Gems,"  Feuchtwanger,  New  York,  1867. 


THE   DIAMOND    MARKET  527 

of  the  gems  displayed.  It  is  fashioned  of  hoops  of  silver  en- 
closing a  cap  of  deep  blue  velvet.  Precious  stones  completely 
encase  the  hoops,  which  are  surmounted  by  a  ball  covered  with 
diamonds  and  bearing  a  Maltese  cross  of  brilliants,  with  a  splen- 
did sapphire  as  the  central  jewel.  The  rim  of  the  crown  is 
clustered  with  brilliants  and  Maltese  crosses.  On  the  cross  at  the 
front  of  the  crown  is  set  the  magnificent  heart-shaped  ruby,  which 
was  worn  by  Edward,  the  Black  Prince,  and  beneath  this  ruby  in 
a  circular  rim  is  an  oblong  sapphire  of  extraordinary  size  and 
beauty.  Clusters  of  drop  pearls  add  to  the  resplendent  effect  of 
the  massing  of  the  diamonds,  emeralds,  rubies,  and  sapphires. 

The  exquisite  beauty  of  the  jewels  of  Queen  Isabella  of 
Spain  has  been  particularly  noted.  At  the  London  Exhibition 
in  1851  two  sets  of  her  jewels  were  shown.  One  consisted  of 
a  diamond  necklace,  in  the  form  of  a  ribbon,  interlaced  with 
foliage  of  emeralds.  Brilliants  were  arranged  also  to  form  a 
bouquet  of  lilies  with  emerald  leaves,  encircled  with  ribbons  of 
brilliants  and  pendants  of  pearls.  A  ribbon  of  brilliants,  inter- 
laced with  emeralds,  formed  a  bracelet,  and  the  crown  of  this  set 
was  of  the  like  combination  of  gems,  with  aiguillettes  of  flowers 
whose  stamens  were  pearls.  The  second  set  of  jewels  was  made 
up  entirely  of  diamonds  and  sapphires  of  the  finest  quality  and 
most  artfully  matched. 

It  is  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  any  private  collections  of 
gems  should  rival  in  extent  the  treasures  of  sovereigns,  whose 
crown  jewels  may  be  the  display  of  centuries  of  accumulation, 
but  some  of  the  noble  families  of  Europe  and  other  wealthy 
owners  have  gems  that  any  monarch  in  the  world  might  covet, 
and  there  are  a  considerable  number  of  collections  ranging  in 
value  over  a  million  dollars.  In  the  United  States  it  is  esti- 
mated that  there  are  at  least  half  a  dozen  such  collections,  one 
of  which  contains  a  necklace  valued  at  $^io,ooo.1  At  every 
leading  court  reception,  or  grand  ball  or  opera,  the  display  of 
jewels  may  be  measured  in  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  diffusion 
of  gems  is  constantly  spreading  with  the  extension  of  wealth. 

1  George  F.  Kunz. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 


CUTTING    AND    POLISHING 


T  has  been  shown  in  the  opening  chapter  of  this 
work  that  fancy  has  still,  and  probably  must 
forever  have,  a  free  range  for  its  surmise  when 
and  how  the  first  diamond  crystal  was  picked 
from  the  river-shore  wash  of  the  Indo-Gangetic 
plain.  Equally  vague  and  conjectural  must  be 
any  effort  to  fix  the  period  when  a  rough  or  natural  diamond  was 
first  artificially  ground  or  polished.  It  is  only  certain  that  some 
rude  polishing,  at  least,  was  essential  to  the  revelation  of  any 
notable  beauty  in  the  diamonds  of  India ;  for  the  surface  of 
these  crystals  is  covered  with  a  grayish  white  film  or  incrustation, 
veiling  their  refulgence  so  completely  that  the  rough  stones 
are  scarcely  more  ornamental  than  common  quartz  pebbles. 

It  was  in  view  of  this  obscuring  that  the  apostle  of  deport- 
ment, the  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  wrote  to  his  son :  "  Manners 
must  adorn  knowledge  and  smooth  its  way  through  the  world. 
Like  a  great  rough  diamond,  it  may  do  very  well  in  a  closet 
by  way  of  curiosity  and  also  for  its  intrinsic  value."  A  con- 
temporary of  this  high  authority,  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  was  able 
to  controvert  this  dictum  by  demonstrating  that  knowledge  can 
rise  from  obscurity  without  any  adornment  of  manners,  but 
polish  is  indispensable  to  the  revelation  of  the  latent  beauties 
of  the  rough  diamond. 

Indian  tradition  runs  back  romantically  five  thousand  years 
to  the  first  gleam  of  the  Koh-i-nur  or  "Mountain  of  Light" 
in  the  serpench  of  a  chief  who  fell  in  the  great  battle  described 

1  Letters  of  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  July  I,  1748. 
528 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING 


529 


in  the  epic  poem  "  Mahabharata " ; '  but  nothing  more  solid 
than  tradition  sustains  this  tale.  If  it  were  true,  it  would 
demonstrate  incontestably  a  very  ancient  proficiency  in  the  art 
of  grinding  and  polishing  a  rough  Indian  diamond,  as  the  figure 
of  the  Koh-i-nur  on  page  i  shows,  illustrating  the  appearance  of 
this  famous  gem  before  it  was  recut  by  modern  lapidary  art  to 


Examination  of  the  Diamonds  before  and  after  Cutting. 

hold  the  foremost  place  in  the  jewels  of  the  British  crown.2  The 
Italian,  Augusto  Costellani,  is  the  mouthpiece  of  another  tradi- 
tion, little  firmer  than  a  floating  pipe-bubble,  that  a  certain  King 
Carna  of  India,  who  lived  some  three  thousand  years  before 
the  Christian  era,  possessed  a  diamond  whose  natural  planes  or 

1  "Indian  Epic  Poetry,"  Sir  Monier-Monier  Williams,  1863. 

2  "A  Popular  Treatise   on  Gems,"    Dr.  Lewis   Feuchtvvanger,   1867,   Plate 
VIII,  No.  i  5  and  No.  i  53, 

2  M 


530       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

facets  were  polished ;  but  what  the  good  king  did  with  his 
sparkling  treasure,  or  where  it  has  wandered,  is  unfortunately 
left  to  the  drift  of  fancy. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  earliest  known  catalogues  of 
gems  do  not  include  the  diamond,  and  that  the  references  to  it 
in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  and  other  writings  before  the  Christian 
era  are  far  from  decisive,  in  view  of  the  likelihood  that  the 
white  sapphire  was  the  ancient  adamas.1  The  failure  to  bring 
to  light  any  diamond  in  the  exhumation  of  ancient  gems  is 
further  significant.2  If  it  be  true  that  a  genuine  diamond,  bear- 
ing the  engraved  head  of  the  philosopher  Posidonius,  exists  in 
the  collection  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  as  reported  by  Streeter,8 
this  is  a  solitary  instance,  so  far  as  is  known,  of  the  application 
of  engraving  to  this  adamantine  surface  at  a  date  probably  prior 
to  the  birth  of  Christ,  for  Posidonius  was  a  Tyrian  Greek,  living 
in  the  second  and  first  centuries  B.C.4 

It  is,  however,  highly  probable  that  the  genuine  diamond 
crystals  were  discovered  in  India  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of 
years  before  the  Christian  era,  and  partially  polished,  at  least,  in 
the  primitive  method  of  rubbing  or  striking  the  planes  of  one 
crystal  against  the  other,  or  even  by  laborious  friction  with  grit- 
stone by  hand  or  a  grinding  wheel. 

It  is  certain  that  revolving  stones  or  metallic  wheels  for  grind- 
ing gems  were  in  use  in  remote  antiquity,  perhaps  two  thousand 
years  or  more  before  the  Christian  era.  From  the  softer  stones, 
carnelian,  onyx,  and  jasper,  the  ancient  workmen  advanced  to 
harder  gems,  preparing  their  face  first  chiefly  by  a  smooth  pol- 
ish for  the  sculptors  of  cameos  and  intaglios.5  Their  mode  of 

1  "Precious   Stones   noted  in   the  Sacred  Scriptures,"  R.  Hindmarsh,  1851. 
"Precious  Stones  and  Gems,"  Edwin  William  Streeter,  1880. 

2  The  Story  of  the  Nations,    "  Phoenicia,"  George  Rawlinson,  M.A.,  1894. 
"Ancient  Mineralogy,"  N.  F.  Moore,  1834. 

3  "  Precious  Stones  and  Gems,"  Streeter,  p.  46. 

4  The  Story  of  the  Nations,  "  Phoenicia,"  George  Rawlinson,   M.A.,  1894. 
"Ancient  Mineralogy,"  N.  F.  Moore,  1834. 

5  "  A  Treatise  on  the  Ancient  Method  of  Engraving  Precious  Stones,"  Lauren- 
tius  Natter,  London,  1754.      "A  Treatise  on  Diamonds  and  Precious  Stones," 
John  Mawe,  1813. 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING  531 

working  was  very  simple,  as  Feuchtwanger  notes.1  The  pol- 
ishers prepared  the  stones  on  a  plate  by  means  of  the  powder  of 
harder  stones,  either  round,  oval,  flat,  or  in  shield  form,  accord- 
ing to  the  designed  subjects,  and  the  sculptors  cut  the  engraving 
with  iron  tools  or  diamond  splinters  mounted  in  iron. 

The  Egyptians  taught  the  art  of  carving  to  the  Phoenicians, 
Etrurians,  and  Greeks.  The  Indians  and  Persians  learned  to 
carve  and  polish  gems  perhaps  as  early  as  the  Egyptians.  Repre- 
sentations of  the  adored  beetles  or  scarabs  were  the  earliest  known 
Egyptian  engravings,  while  the  Persians  engraved  chiefly  mytho- 
logical animals  or  figures  of  their  priests.  Cabalistic  devices  and 
Arabic  letters  on  gems  formed  the  doubly  precious  "talismans," 
and  even  without  talismanic  lettering,  marvellous  or  supernatural 
origin  and  powers  were  attributed  by  current  superstition  to  all  the 
notable  gems.3  Alexander's  seal  typified  the  sovereignty  trans- 
ferred to  his  vicegerent,  Perdiccas.  Augustus  Caesar  cherished 
his  seal  engraved  with  a  sphinx  as  a  token  of  his  divine  authority.2 

In  the  carving  of  cameos,  precious  stones  with  layers  and 
veins  were  employed  with  great  skill,  bringing  out  contrasted 
effects,  as  where  a  face  is  shown  in  one  color  and  the  hair  and 
dress  of  a  figure  in  different  colors.  Sometimes  certain  colors 
were  made  typical.  Thus  Bacchus  was  carved  in  amethyst,  the 
color  of  wine,  while  Neptune  or  nymphs  of  the  sea  were  cut  in 
aquamarine.8 

Such  surface  polishing  and  engraving  antedated,  however, 
very  far  any  grinding  or  faceting  of  the  harder  gems,  and  the 
intractable  diamond  especially,  for  uses  of  ornament.  Pliny 
writes,  "The  polished  hexahedral  Indian  diamond  thins  to  a 
point."  4  As  the  crystallization  of  the  diamond  is  much  more 

1  "A  Popular  Treatise  on  Gems,"  Feuchtwanger,  1867. 

2  ««  De  duodecim  Gemmis  in  Veste  Aaronis,"  Epiphanius,  1565.      "  Gemma- 
rum  et  Lapidum  Historia,"  Boetius,  1647.      Theophrastus  —  "  History  of  Stones 
and   Modern  History  of   Gems,"  Sir  John  Hill,  1746.      "Precious   Stones  and 
Gems,"  Streeter.      "A  Popular  Treatise  on  Gems,"  Feuchtwanger,  1867. 

3  "  A  Popular  Treatise  on  Gems,"  Feuchtwanger,  1867. 

4  "Naturalis  Historia,"  Caius  Plinius  Secundus,  23  A.D.-J^  A.D, 


532       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

commonly  octahedral  and  dodecahedral  than  cubical,  the  adamas 
of  Pliny  may  have  been  the  white  sapphire  crystal,  a  hexagonal 
prism.1 

Long  before  the  days  of  Sindbad  the  sailor,2  when  the  true 
diamond  was  unquestionably  known  and  prized,  and  when  the 
lucky  adventurer  filled  his  pockets  with  the  choicest  crystals, 
copper  had  been  substituted  for  lead  in  revolving  wheels  used 
by  the  most  skilful  lapidaries  for  grinding  the  harder  stones ; 
and  powdered  stone,  moistened  with  oil  or  water,  was  sprinkled 
on  the  grinding  wheel  or  pressed  into  furrows  on  its  face.  Cut- 
ting in  the  scientific  method  of  the  modern  art  was  of  compara- 
tively recent  development.  The  grinding  or  cutting  of  the 
Indian  stones  by  native  lapidaries  was,  at  first,  only  a  surface 
polish  of  natural  planes,  and  later  proficiency  did  not  extend 
beyond  an  irregular  and  unsymmetrical  fashion,  which  rarely 
ventured  the  risk  of  cleavage.  There  are  perhaps  no  known 
samples  indicating  with  certainty  a  higher  proficiency  in  the  art 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages  than  the  four  large  diamonds 
now  to  be  seen  on  the  buckle  of  the  mantle  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  the  Great,3  which  were  planed  and  polished  on  their 
natural  faces.4 

There  is  a  particular  Oriental  cut  of  diamonds,  still  followed, 
which  had  its  origin  about  the  year  1000  A.D.  This  bears  the 
distinctive  name  of  "  Indian  "  or  "  Lustre  of  India."  It  had 
four  rectangular  plates  and  one  upper  facet  in  the  form  of  a 
parallelogram.  The  stone  was  polished  highly  on  all  surfaces 
except  the  under  side,  which  was  left  in  its  natural  state.  It  is 
thought  that  the  wandering  merchants  of  the  East,  who  travelled 

1  "De  Gemmis  Plinii,"  Ernst  Friedrich  Glocker,  1824.  "Precious  Stones 
and  Gems,"  Streeter. 

!  Ninth  century  A.D.  "Origin  of  Tales  of  Voyages,"  "  Cyclopaedia  of 
India,"  Balfour. 

3  "  Charles  the  Great,  King  of  the  Franks  and  Emperor  of  the  Romans,"  742— 
814  A.D. 

4  "  Great  Diamonds  of  the  World,"  Edwin  William  Streeter,  1882.     "  Hand- 
book of  the  Arts  of  the  Middle  Ages, ' '  Jules  Labarte,  London,  1855. 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING 


533 


by  caravan,  brought  these  stones,  or  a  knowledge  of  their  style, 
from  the  far  Orient  to  Constantinople,  whence  they  were  made 
known  to  France,  Italy,  and  Holland.1 

That  such  forms  of  gems  were  made  in  Paris  and  in  Venice 
as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century  is  certain.  In  1290  A.D.  a 
society  of  lapidaries  was  formed  at  Paris,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century  there  were  professional  diamond  cutters  of 
somewhat  higher  skill  in  Nuremburg.  In  1365  A.D.  an  inven- 
tory of  the  jewels  of  Luigi  d'  Angio  was  made,  which  mentions 
a  diamond  having  eight  facets  and  another  shaped  like  a  shield. 
The  facets  here  spoken  of  may  be  only  flat  sides  such  as  any 
true  octahedral  crystal  presents.1' 

One  of  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  of  European  workmen  to 
attain  any  distinction  as  a  diamond  cutter  was  named  Hermann, 
living  in  Paris  about  1407  A.D.,  and  it  seems  to  be  certain  that 
from  his  time  or  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  busi- 
ness of  polishing  and  developing  the  diamond  became  an  estab- 
lished industry  in  western  Europe.  Gems  in  the  rough  were 
somehow  finding  their  way  from  India  and  Borneo,  and  were 
coming  into  the  market  not  only  among  kings  and  the  members 
of  the  royal  households  but  among  noblemen  and  burghers  of 
great  wealth.  In  1465  A.D.  there  were  three  registered  diamond 
cutters  living  in  the  city  of  Bruges.  Perhaps  these  cutters  were 
associated  with  Louis  de  Berquem,  a  native  of  that  city,  who  an- 
nounced in  that  year  a  new  method  of  cutting  diamonds  and 
established  a  guild  of  diamond  cutters. 

The  method  which  he  pursued  and  the  forms  which  he 
evolved  were  deserving  the  name  of  a  new  discovery  of  which  he 
was  truly  the  inventor.  With  whatever  assurance  others  may 
claim  to  have  invented  the  art  of  faceting  or  of  cutting  diamonds, 

1  "Precious  Stones  and  Gems,"  Streeter.  "A  Treatise  on  Diamonds  and 
Precious  Stones,"  Mawe,  1813.  "Treatise  on  Diamonds  and  Pearls,"  David 
Jeffries,  1750—1751.  "On  Gems  and  Precious  Stones,"  Robert  Dingley,  Phil. 
Trans.  Abi.  IX,  345,  1747.  "  Le  Grand  Lapidaire,"  Sir  John  Mandeville,  Paris, 
1561.  "  Les  Merveilles  des  Indes  Orientales,"  etc.,  Robert  de  Berguen,  1661. 
"  Voyages  en  Turquie,  en  Perse  et  aux  Indes,"  Tavernier,  1676.  2  Ibid. 


534      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

it  is  very  evident  that  none  before  him  had  done  so  on  any  sci- 
entific basis  of  geometrical  relations.  Berquem  was  not  merely 
a  craftsman ;  he  was  an  accomplished  mathematician,  highly 
versed  in  optical  science,  and  he  had  determined  the  true  angles 
at  which  the  planes  of  each  facet  should  lie  in  reference  to  its 
crystallization  and  to  its  size,  in  order  to  make  its  reflections  of 
light  most  perfect  and  its  color  most  complete. 

He  discovered  that  in  the  development  of  the  octahedral 
form  there  are  certain  measurements  of  relation  which  must  be 
preserved  in  the  trimming  of  the  diamond  for  the  perfect  re- 
flection of  all  the  light  which  enters  the  crystal.  By  this  scientific 
formation  he  completely  changed  the  basis  for  estimate  of  the 
value  of  diamonds.  Under  his  treatment  the  diamond  of  largest 
size  and  weight  was  not  most  valuable,  but  the  gem  which  was 
transcendent  as  a  light  producer  or  reflector  and  as  a  crystal  of 
symmetrical  parts.  The  connoisseur,  the  artist,  and  the  thrifty 
merchant  alike  have  vastly  profited  by  the  principles  evolved  by 
Berquem.  He  raised  the  craftsmen  of  his  day  from  the  common 
plane  of  gem  polishers  to  the  higher  position  of  artists  and 
skilled  lapidaries.  The  successful  lapidary  of  to-day  —  to  whose 
cutting  is  intrusted  the  gems  of  India,  Brazil,  and  Africa  —  must 
be  a  close  student  of  optics  as  well  as  a  dexterous  stone  cutter. 


Fig.  i.  Fig.  2.  Fig.  3. 

Figs,  i  and  2  above  represent  the  simple  octahedral  form  of 
diamond  crystallization.  By  the  second  figure  it  will  appear 
that  if  two  pyramids  of  four  triangular  sides  were  joined  together 
at  their  bases,  we  should  have  a  diamond  form  with  eight  trian- 
gular surfaces,  or  an  octahedron.  Fig.  3  is  the  same  octahedron 
with  its  corners  either  rounded  or  ground  flat  as  additional 
facets.  The  diamond's  natural  edges  are  not  often  so  straight 
and  sharp  as  here  represented,  but  are  usually  convex,  that  is, 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING 


535 


bowing  outward  ;  but  when  mechanically  trimmed  to  perfect  their 
shape,  each  line  and  angle  must  be  unerringly  true. 

Fig.  4  is  a  cube  of  six  faces  having  its  corners  rounded  or 
flattened,  and  Fig.  5  is  a  double  cube  or  dodecahedron,  having 
twelve  equal   rhombic   faces.      Some  diamonds  can 
readily  be  made  to  receive  these  shapes  with 
little  loss  of  substance.    Fig.  8  represents  a 
gem  shaped  as  a  parallelogram  with  a  facet 
Fig.  4-'         on  one  upper  corner,  the  lower  side  showing       F'g-s- 
its  natural  state.     It  is  called  "  Indian  "  or  "  Lustre  of  India." 
Figs.  6  and  7  represent  the  oldest  and  simplest  form  of  gem 
cutting,  called  the  "  table  cut."     It  suits  the  other  precious  gems 
much   better   than   the  pure   dia- 
mond.     A    celebrated    "  table "     a/_ 
diamond    was    given    by    Prince 
George   (afterwards   George   IV.) 

Fitzherbert.  She  had  it  split  along  the  line  from 
a  to  b,  and  used  each  half  to  fit  in  the  face  of  a  locket ;  one 
holding  her  own  portrait,  and  the  other 
that  of  her  princely  lover.  The  diamond 
with  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Fitzherbert  was 
buried  with  the  old  king  in  the  locket 
which  hung  on  his  neck.1 

The  first  and  simplest  modification  of 
the  "  table  cut "  of  a  diamond  is  called  the  "  Old  English  sin- 
gle "  or  the  "star  single  cut."  By  this  arrangement  the  table 
cut  diamond  had  its  top  part  planed  down  about  the  edges  to 
represent  an  eight-pointed  star  whose  centre  figure  was  an 
octagon,  or  elongated  octagon,  if  the  stone  was  longer  than  its 
width.  This  style  of  cutting  appears  in  sets  of  old  diamonds 
for  crown  jewels  or  ordinary  wear.  These  sloping  triangular 
faces  were  ground  upon  the  edge  of  the  upper  surface  of  the 
stone  only,  reaching  from  the  flat  part,  which  is  then  technically 
called  the  "table,"  to  the  central  line  which  is  called  the 
"girdle,"  and  these  cut  surfaces  are  called  "facets"  or  small 
1  "Macaulay's  Essays,"  Thomas  Babington  Macaulay. 


Fig.  8. 


536      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


faces.     Their  size  and  shape  are  most  accurately  measured  and 
most  exactly  ground. 

Figs.  9  a,  9  b,  9  c  represent,  successively,  side  or  girdle,  top 
or  table,  and   back   or   culet  of  the   next   most   simple  cut  of 


Fig.  9  a.  l''^.  9  /'.  Fig.  9  c. 

modern  date,  which  is  of  a  scientific  cast.  It  is  called  the 
"single  cut  brilliant,"  a  modification  of  the  simple  table  cut. 
Fig.  10  below  represents  a  single  cut  having  sixteen  triangular 
facets  on  its  upper  section  and  twelve  facets  on  the  under 


Fig.  10. 


I-'i".  12. 


section,  plus  eight  long  facets.      Figs.  11   and  12  show  one  of 
half  that  number,  but  both  belong  to  the  style  here  described  — 
the   single   cut   brilliant.      Indeed,  with  very  small   stones,   the 
single  cut  has  but  four  faces  above  and  four  below.      In  com- 
mercial circles  they  are  called  "  single  sets." 


Fig.  13.  Fig.  14. 

The  two  figures  above  present  another  modification  of  the 
simple  table  cut  of  India.  It  is  called  the  "step  cut."  In  this 
style  the  plane  above  the  girdle  is  only  half  as  thick  as  that 
below  the  girdle.  From  Fig.  13  it  appears  that  the  part 
above  the  girdle  has  been  bevelled  off  at  two  different  angles, 
making  two  "steps"  besides  the  table.  The  other  figure 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING  537 

represents  the  part  beneath  the  girdle,  which  being  twice  as 
thick  as  the  upper  section  is  cut  with  six  steps  instead  of 
three.  In  closely  studying  this  step  cut  and  the  table  cut  it 
was  discovered  that  the  diamond  crystallized  in  thin  laminae 
or  plates,  and  that  it  might  be  split  into  very  thin  sections 
resembling  plates  of  mica.  By  taking  advantage  of  these 
"  lines  of  cleavage,"  as  they  are  called,  many  large  diamonds 
were  split  into  thin  leaves  and  used  as  faces  of  small  pictures 
enclosed  in  lockets.  At  Queen  Victoria's  coronation  this  thin 
sheet  diamond  was  so  common  that  many  distinguished  guests 
were  favored  with  a  gift  of  their  own  likene.sses  encased  in  golden 
frames  and  covered  with  a  diamond  instead  of  a  glass  face. 

In  the  plates  below,  Fig.  15  and  Fig.  16,  facets  of  the  "rose 
cut"  pattern  are  represented.      It  will  be  seen  that  the  bottom 
of  the  diamond   is   flat,  though   not   unpolished, 
while   all   the  facets   lie  above  the  girdle.      This 
design,  which  is  called  the  "  Hol- 
land," groups  twenty-four  facets, 
but  a  simpler  style  known  as  the 
Fig.  15.  "Antwerp    rose"     shows     facets  Fig.  16. 

ranging  from  six  to  sixteen.  This  rose  cut  is  a  very  convenient 
style  to  adopt  for  fragments  which  have  been  cleft  from  large 
stones,  or  for  diamonds  which  are  imperfect  in  their  crystal- 
lization on  one  side.  If  well  proportioned,  the  depth  of  the 
rose  must  be  one-half  its  breadth  at  the  base. 

In  the  rose  cut  diamond  every  facet  is  a  triangle  and  all 
meet  at  the  central  apex,  forming  a  cupola.  When  the  facets 
on  large  stones  number  thirty-two,  the  dealers  call  it  "  fiam 
minghi  "  or  "  half  brilliant."  A  common  practice  of  the  trade 
is  to  obtain  a  second  "  fiam  minghi "  of  the  same  size,  but  cut 
in  quartz  crystal  or  even  in  glass,  and  glue  their  bases  together 
with  gum  mastic,  thus  forming  the  "  briolet "  or  "  brilliolet," 
which  is  palmed  off  for  a  pure  diamond.  Briolets  are  pear- 
shaped  or  oval  stones,  having  neither  table,  culet,  nor  edge,  but 
covered  with  triangular-shaped  facets,  sometimes  pierced  at  their 
points  of  greatest  diameter,  to  be  suspended  on  an  axis. 


538       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF  SOUTH    AFRICA 


It  has  been  told  how  the  diamond  by  Berquem's  talent  was 
first  cut  in  harmonious  and  systematic  proportion  and  regular 
facets  at  such  an  angle  to  its  axis  and  to  each  other  that  the 
fullest  play  of  reflected  light  is  secured  from  every  surface  on 
which  it  strikes.  His  art  produced  the  single  cut  brilliant,  the 
highest  achievement  of  the  lapidary  of  his  day.  Near  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century  a  Venetian  engraver,  named  Vincenzo 
Peruzzi,  while  experimenting  to  get  rid  of  obnoxious  color  in 
small  diamonds,  invented  the  double  faceting  which  is  now  known 
as  the  "brilliant."  It  is  regarded  as  the  perfection  of  the  lapi- 
dary's art,  and  is  adopted  in  cut- 
ting  the  most  costly  gems  now 
put  upon  the  market.  There  are 
thirty-two  facets  in  its  upper  sec- 
tion, and  twenty-four  below  the 
girdle.  A  diamond  cut  in  this 
style  is  shown  in  Figs.  17  and  18. 
The  usual  double  cut  brilliant  has  only  fifty-six  facets,  but, 
of  late  years  a  supposed  improvement  has  been  made  by  adding 
eight  star  facets  around  the  culet,  which  makes  a  total  of  sixty- 
four  facets.  The  proportions  of  measurements  for  the  perfect 
brilliant  diamond  do  not  hold  for  other  colored  gems  whose 
depth  increases  or  diminishes  their  color.  The  triangular  facets 
on  the  bezel,  which  touch  the  table,  are  named  "  star  facets," 
while  those  which  touch  the  girdle  are  "  skill  facets.'" 


Fig.  17. 


Fig.  19. 


Fig.  21. 


In  order  to  show  the  names  of  lines  and  the  geometrical  re- 
lations of  diamonds  as  a  lapidary  sees  them,  the  above  figures 
may  prove  helpful.  Fig.  19  shows  the  side  view  of  an  ordi- 
nary octahedral  or  eight-sided  diamond.  Fig.  20  shows  first  the 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING  539 

line  at  a  cutting  off  the  upper  point  of  the  diamond.  When 
this  is  accomplished,  the  flat  top  surface  is  called  the  "  table." 
The  line  at  c,  which  is  the  largest  girth  of  the  diamond,  is  called 
its  "girdle."  The  space  b,  between  the  girdle  and  its  "table," 
is  called  the  "  bezel."  The  line  at  e  cuts  off  the  sharp  lower 
point,  and  its  flat  surface  is  the  "  culet."  The  space  between 
the  culet  and  the  girdle  is  called  the  "  pavilion." 


Cleaving  Diamonds 

There  are  three  distinct  processes  in  the  treatment  of  dia- 
monds by  the  lapidary  —  cleaving,  cutting,  and  polishing.  To 
split  the  diamond  successfully  demands  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  its  individual  character  as  well  as  of  its  generic  crystallization 
and  lines  of  cleavage.  The  skilled  lapidary  takes  in  hand  a  large 
rough  diamond.  If  it  is  an  Indian  or  Brazilian  stone,  it  is  coated 
or  partly  coated  with  a  hard  dull  crust.  Its  corners  are  perhaps 
abraded.  It  may  have  defects  or  cracks  in  its  surface,  unequal 
coloring,  or  black  deposits  in  its  interior.  He  must  needs  re- 
move the  crust,  correct  the  distortion  of  the  crystal,  remove  or 
conceal  its  defects,  and  decide  what  is  the  largest  perfect  gem 
which  can  be  cut  from  the  rough  stone.  He  must  be  able  to  see 
the  priceless  jewel  through  its  shrouding  veil,  and  determine  on 
which  surfaces  of  the  stone  its  prominent  corners  must  rest. 
Having  decided  what  shape  will  best  befit  the  stone,  he  must 
know  whether  the  rejected  portions  can  be  split  off  safely  or 
whether  they  must  be  ground  off.  Grinding  away  the  rejected 
portions  is  probably  the  safest  procedure,  but  it  is  the  slowest 
and  most  expensive.  The  quickest  method  is  to  split  off  the 
surplus  material.  The  process  will  be  easy  if  the  proposed  frac- 
ture is  in  the  direct  line  of  cleavage  in  that  particular  stone.  If 
not,  his  attempt  at  splitting  may  ruin  a  gem  of  countless  price. 
Shall  he  make  the  attempt?  He  must  be  both  an  expert  and  a 
man  of  nerve.  If  he  be  so,  a  single  feat  of  successful  polishing 
may  bring  him  fortune  and  the  reputation  of  a  master,  while  a 
single  disastrous  venture  may  quite  undo  him. 


540      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

The  early  lapidaries  dared  not  attempt  the  splitting  of  a  stone 
to  correct  its  faults  or  alter  its  natural  form.  Every  stone  was 
estimated  according  to  the  impression  it  made  upon  the  scales. 
Hence  its  facets  were  only  smooth  flat  surfaces  ground  upon  the 
rounded  exterior,  —  an  unmitigated  rose  cut  of  trivial  triangles, 
or  a  terraced  surface  of  rings  and  bands.  The  master  of  his 
craft  to-day  must  make  his  diamonds  perfect  reflectors  of  light  at 


Cleaving. 

all  hazards.  If  any  excrescence  exists,he  must  cut  it  away,  or  the 
light  which  enters  a  flattened  surface  may  be  so  entangled  that  it 
will  never  emerge.  When  he  takes  up  a  cross-grained,  defective 
stone,he  will  reject  it.  Like  a  true  surgeon  he  will  quickly  dis- 
cern how  he  may  remove  most  safely  a  defective  part,  and  will 
proceed  boldly  with  his  task.  His  first  step  in  the  work  is  to 
scratch  the  surface  round  the  part  to  be  split  off  with  another 
diamond.  Having  made  the  diamond  fast  in  a  cement  bed  com- 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING 

posed  of  brickdust  and  resin,  he  applies  the  edge  of  a  steel  knife 
to  the  scratched  surface,  and  strikes  a  quick,  hard  blow  with  a 
slender  rod.  If  he  has  struck  the  lines  of  cleavage,  the  external 
scale  is  at  once  removed,  for  the  diamond,  despite  its  hardness,  is 
quite  easily  fractured.  Then  the  split  surface  must  be  polished. 
If  no  other  scale  or  marked  inequality  needs  removing  by 
splitting,  the  next  operation  is  that  of  grinding. 

Cutting 

As  the  diamond  is  the  hardest  of  all  known  substances,  it  is 
evident  that  much  patience  and  strength  are  required  in  reducing 


Cutting. 

its  size  or  altering  its  rough  figure  by  grinding.  The  ordinary 
file  would  serve  to  reduce  some  other  gems,  but  it  will  not  touch 
the  diamond.  Diamond  cut  diamond  is  not  merely  a  current 
phrase,  for  diamond  dust  is  now  invariably  used  in  polishing  or 
grinding  this  precious  stone. 

For  cutting  and  polishing  purposes  the  lapidary  has  a  table 
above  which  a  flat  steel  wheel  revolves  horizontally.  On  the 
upper  surface  of  this  wheel  are  fine  grooves  or  striae,  cut  angling 


542      THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF  SOUTH   AFRICA 

from  its  centre  to  its  perimeter.  By  means  of  belts  beneath  the 
table,  the  grinding  wheel  is  made  to  turn  at  a  rate  from  three  to 
four  thousand  revolutions  a  minute.  Diamond  dust  mixed  with 
olive  oil  is  applied  to  the  upper  face  of  the  wheel,  and  against 
this  erosive  surface  is  held  the  diamond  to  be  ground  or  cut. 

For  this  object  the  diamond  is  set  in  a  fusible  solder  on  the 
end  of  a  copper  cupel  which  is  held  firmly  against  the  surface  of 
the  wheel  by  a  small  projecting  arm  and  clamp.  By  adjusting 
this  holder,  the  lapidary  presses  the  exposed  face  of  the  stone  on 
the  revolving  wheel  until  the  desired  amount  of  material  has 
been  ground  away  and  the  proper  angles  turned.  Such  work  in 
its  finishing  stages  cannot  be  intrusted  to  a  tyro  or  experimenter. 
Unusual  patience  and  steadiness  of  nerve  are  required  for  such  a 
task.  When  the  facet  is  finished,  the  workman  wipes  the  dust 
off  and  tests  its  smoothness  and  finish,  after  which  he  resets  the 
diamond,  leaving  the  uncut  facet  exposed  which  he  intends  to 
cut  next. 

Most  of  the  "  skill  "  facets  and  "  underskill  "  facets  are  made 
by  grinding,  while  the  lozenge  and  larger  faces  are  first  shaped, 
when  possible,  by  cleaving.  If  the  stone  is  thick  enough  to 
form  a  brilliant,  the  lapidary  first  forms  the  table,  and  then  suc- 
cessively the  adjacent  facets  and  lozenges.  The  table  must  be 
absolutely  flawless  and  smooth,  while  all  the  surrounding  facets 
in  an  ideal  brilliant  must  hold  the  same  precise  angles  and  have 
their  shape  correspond  to  the  thousandth  of  an  inch.  After 
completing  the  bezel,  the  pavilion  is  next  developed.  The 
underskill  facets  of  the  pavilion  must  match  exactly  at  the  girdle 
with  those  of  the  bezel,  and  the  girdle  when  finished  should  be 
as  sharp  as  a  knife.  Some  lapidaries  leave  the  girdle  blunt,  but 
with  a  great  sacrifice  of  brilliancy  in  the  gem.  The  triangles 
and  lozenges  of  the  pavilion  must,  of  course,  be  much  larger 
than  those  of  the  bezel. 

There  is  a  still  simpler  method  of  cutting  diamonds  by  a 
device  attributed  to  Berquem.  Two  uncut  stones  are  cemented 
into  the  ends  of  two  sticks  resembling  penholders  in  shape. 
Then  the  operator  grasps  these  handles  and  presses  the  stones 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING 


543 


544      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

against  each  other  with  a  rubbing  motion  over  a  trough.  Con- 
siderable leverage  is  obtained  for  the  rubbing  by  resting  the 
holders  against  projectors  at  the  sides  of  the  trough.  The  ex- 
posed face  of  the  stones  is  coated  with  diamond  dust  to  advance 
the  process.  In  this  laborious  way  facets  may  be  ground,  and 
the  cutting  may  be  completed  by  repeatedly  refixing  the  stones 
in  the  cement.  Expert  handling  is  necessary  to  keep  the  dia- 
monds from  becoming  overheated  by  the  constant  friction. 


Polishing 

The  third  process  is  that  of  polishing.  The  method  em- 
ployed does  not  differ  materially  from  that  adopted  in  cutting, 
described  above ;  but  as  this  is  the  finishing  process,  all  irregu- 
larities in  faceting  must  be  corrected  and  the  practised  eye  of  the 
artist  must  detect  and  remedy  every  defect.  Each  line  and  angle 
must  be  made  geometrically  correct;  each  facet  and  lozenge  must 
be  shaped  to  perfection.  The  colorless  stone  must  glisten  pure 
as  a  dewdrop  sparkling  in  the  sun,  producing  the  colors  of  the 
prismatic  spectrum  ;  the  gem  of  red  or  blue  or  green  color  must 
flash  forth  its  hue  with  intense  brilliancy. 

Such  exact  and  delicate  alignments  are  not  the  work  of  a 
day,  though  the  time  required  has  been  greatly  shortened  by 
modern  methods.  The  patience  of  weeks  and  even  of  months 
must  be  expended  in  perfecting  these  tiny  crystals.  It  is  said 
that  it  was  the  work  of  two  years  to  cut  the  celebrated  Pitt  dia- 
mond, now  among  the  French  jewels,  and  the  lapidary  received 
for  his  skill  and  labor  the  sum  of  ^3500  or  117,500.  The  last 
cutting  of  the  Koh-i-nur  by  Coster  of  Amsterdam  in  thirty-eight 
days  was  unusually  rapid.  The  ablest  workmen  in  Holland 
were  engaged  continuously  on  it  and  the  wheel  was  driven  by 
steam  power ;  yet  it  cost  140,000  to  do  the  work  and  the 
diamond  lost  eighty-four  carats  in  weight.1 

1  "  Great  Diamonds  of  the  World,"  Streeter,  1882. 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING 


545 


546      THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Loss  in  Cutting 

No  general  rule  can  be  stated  covering  loss  which  occurs  in 
cutting  gems.  The  waste  depends  on  the  character  of  the  stone, 
—  its  perfect  natural  form  and  crystallization,  its  purity,  and 
the  style  of  the  cut  adopted.  Perfect  octahedrons  lose  two-fifths 
of  their  weight,  if  cut  as  brilliants.  Rhombohedrons  will  lose 
over  half  of  their  weight  in  taking  the  same  form,  and  stones  of 
other  shape  will  lose  as  much  or  more.  The  following  figures 
will  show  at  what  cost  of  substance  some  of  the  natural  gems 
have  been  perfected  in  the  process  of  their  cutting:  The 
Mogul  in  its  rough  outer  coat  weighed  originally  780^ 
carats  ;  when  cut  it  weighed  only  279^  carats,  a  loss  of  nearly 
two-thirds.  The  Regent  weighed  410  carats  and  was  reduced 
to  136^  carats.  The  weight  of  the  Koh-i-nur  was  originally 
793  carats.  It  was  first  cut  unskilfully  by  Hortensio  Borgio  to 
1 86^  carats,  and  a  second  cutting  reduced  it  to  102^-  carats,  —  a 
loss  by  both  processes  of  the  astonishing  amount  of  690^-  carats, 
or  more  than  six  and  a  half  times  its  present  weight.  The 
L'Etoile  du  Sud  shrunk  from  254^  carats  to  124^%  carats  in 
the  process  of  cutting.1  The  average  loss  of  South  African 
diamonds  by  cutting  is  from  one-half  to  three-fifths  of  their 
gross  weight.  The  428^  carat  diamond  found  in  De  Beers 
mine  lost  200  carats  in  cutting. 

It  has  been  demonstrated  in  cutting  that  diamonds  are  of 
different  degrees  of  hardness  and  that  the  same  stone  may 
exhibit  different  degrees  on  different  faces.  The  Koh-i-nur  is 
a  signal  example  of  this  fact.  In  cutting  the  facet  near  a  yellow 
flaw,  the  section  grew  noticeably  hard,  until  six  hours'  grinding 
at  a  speed  of  2400  revolutions  a  minute  produced  only  the 
faintest  change.  A  speed  of  3000  revolutions  was  necessary  to 
cause  any  perceptible  loss  of  material  on  that  facet.  A  speed  of 
4000  revolutions  a  minute  is  about  the  average  now  in  vogue 
at  Amsterdam.2 

1  "  Famous  Diamonds  of  the  World,"  Streeter,  1882. 

2  Description  by  Messrs.  Veder  and  Rozelaar,  dated  6th  March,  1902. 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING  547 

There  is  another  material  loss  occurring  in  cutting  or  in  the 
handling  of  rough  diamonds  from  a  curious  infirmity  of  some  of 
these  crystals.  The  explosion  of  diamonds  sometimes  occurs, 
and  the  loss  is  the  greater  because  large  stones  are  more  liable  to 
explode  or  fly  into  pieces  than  small  ones.  This  phenomenon 
is  attributed  to  the  heat  of  the  hot  solder,  or  frictional  heat  of 
the  revolving  disk. 

The  Lapidaries 

Early  handlers  of  the  diamond  were  hardly  more  than  pol- 
ishers, striving  to  produce  an  even,  glistening  surface,  and  satisfied 
to  retain  the  natural  face  of  the  stone,  or  to  grind  away  some 
upper  portion  of  the  crust.  This  clearly  appears  from  the  many 
old,  half-polished  stones  that  have  been  found  in  treasuries  of 
gems.  A  signal  instance  is  shown  on  the  royal  mantle  of  Charle- 
magne, still  preserved  in  the  French  National  Collection.  In 
the  clasp  of  this  robe  are  diamonds  whose  natural  octahedral 
faces  have  been  simply  polished.  In  ancient  church  furnishings 
diamonds  have  been  found  with  an  upper  table  and  four  polished 
borders,  and  the  lower  sides  cut  as  four-sided  prisms  or  pyramids. 
Streeter  quotes  this  inventory  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou's  jewels 
exhibited  in  1360  A.D.  :  (i)  a  diamond  of  a  shield  shape,  from  a 
reliquary ;  (2)  two  small  diamonds  from  the  same  reliquary,  with 
three  flat-cut,  four-cornered  facets  on  both  sides;  (3)  a  small 
diamond  in  the  form  of  a  round  mirror ;  (4)  a  thick  diamond 
with  four  facets ;  (5)  a  diamond  in  the  form  of  a  lozenge ;  (6)  an 
eight-sided,  and  (7)  a  six-sided  plain  diamond.1  We  must  allow, 
of  course,  for  the  mistakes  and  the  ignorance  of  those  who  may 
have  catalogued  rock  crystals  for  diamonds,  but  granting  that 
some  were  diamonds,  their  existence  shows  what  forms  were  then 
prevalent  and  the  real  development  of  diamond  cutting. 

Previous  to  the  success  of  de  Berquem  as  a  lapidary,  there 

were  polishers  and  cutters  in  Paris  and  at  Nuremburg,  as  has 

been  noted.     A  guild  was  organized  in   Paris  in   1290  A.D.,  and 

the  table  cutters  joined  in  a  guild  with  the  stone  engravers  in 

'  "Precious  Stones  and  Gems,"  Streeter,  1880. 


548       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Nuremburg,  which  became  a  primitive  Lapidaries'  Union.  They 
received  and  taught  the  apprentices  on  the  strict  condition  of 
their  contract  to  serve  for  five  or  six  years  before  undertaking 
business  for  themselves.  The  artist  Hermann  won  for  himself 
an  honorable  name  in  France  as  early  as  1407  A.D.,  and  Guten- 
berg, the  originator  of  the  art  of  printing  from  block  type,  learned 
the  lapidary's  art  at  Strasburg  in  1434.  At  a  dinner  given  by 
the  extravagant  Charles  the  Bold,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  to  the 
king  of  France,  he  bestowed  upon  his  guests  eleven  diamonds 
partially  cut  and  mounted  in  gold.  Undoubtedly  these  jewels 
were  declared  in  the  height  of  the  fashion  by  European  artists. 
But  it  is  from  de  Berquem's  day  that  the  profession  reckons  its 
firm  establishment,  and  his  contemporaries  have  acknowledged 
him  as  the  father  of  his  art. 

Though  many  Europeans  have  become  skilful  workers  at 
this  trade,  the  most  successful  lapidaries  have  been  of  Hebrew 
stock.  The  Jews  had,  at  one  time,  the  monopoly  of  the  trade 
in  diamonds  in  Portugal,  and  their  especial  centre  of  business  was 
Lisbon.  The  old  "  Lisbon  cut "  of  diamonds  has  never  been 
surpassed  for  perfection  and  beauty  of  workmanship.  But  un- 
fortunately for  Portugal  and  for  the  Jews,  religious  bigotry 
kindled  the  fires  of  persecution  against  this  ancient  people,  and 
they  were  expelled  from  the  kingdom.  Hospitable  little  Hol- 
land opened  her  doors  to  receive  the  exiled  merchants  and 
lapidaries,  and  Amsterdam  has  since  become  the  central  mart 
for  the  diamond  merchant  and  his  comrade,  the  diamond  cutter. 
Out  of  thirty-five  thousand  Jews  who  reside  there,  at  least  a 
third  are  engaged  in  one  department  or  another  of  the  diamond 
industry. 

The  settlement  of  some  of  de  Berquem's  pupils  at  Amster- 
dam was  probably  the  reason  why  the  exiled  Jews  selected  that 
city  as  their  home;  but  others  went  to  Antwerp  and  some  made 
their  homes  in  Paris.  The  descendants  of  these  expatriated 
Jews  received  especial  encouragement  and  protection  from  Car- 
dinal Mazarin  two  hundred  years  later.  Twelve  of  the  largest 
crown  jewels  were  intrusted  to  them  to  be  recut  on  Berquem's 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING 


549 


550       THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

principle.  Their  success  was  so  marked  that  these  stones  were 
afterwards  known  as  the  "  Twelve  Mazarins."  Unfortunately 
these  rare  gems  were  poorly  guarded  and  all  but  the  tenth  had 
disappeared  by  1791.  The  French  cutter  Jarlet  gained  an  inter- 
national reputation  in  the  seventeenth  century  by  cutting  one  of 
the  notable  jewels  of  the  Russian  crown  weighing  90  carats,  but 
the  industry  withered  in  France  in  spite  of  its  special  encourage- 
ment by  Mazarin  and  other  powerful  ministers. 

England  and  Holland  had  secured  almost  exclusive  trade 
relations  with  the  East,  from  whence  the  diamond  supply  was 
obtained.  Hence  the  Hebrews  of  these  countries  secured  con- 
trol of  the  diamond  industry,  and  French  lapidaries  sought 
employment  in  vain.  Then  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes  flooded  Holland  with  French  refugees.  Of  the  seventy- 
five  diamond  cutters  whom  Mazarin  had  so  carefully  guarded, 
only  five  remained  in  1775.  Inquiry  showed  that  the  total  rough 
diamond  stock  in  Paris,  just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolu- 
tion of  1789,  was  only  3832  carats,  and  there  was  little  employ- 
ment obtainable  in  recutting  old  stones.  During  the  Revolution 
and  the  troubled  Napoleonic  reign,  the  industry  was  fatally 
paralyzed,  and  diamonds  were  sent  out  of  France  to  Antwerp  for 
cutting. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  there  was  a  determined  push  in 
England  to  foster  the  diamond-cutting  industry,  and  some  ex- 
pert workmen,  headed  by  Ralph  Potter,  made  a  stout  struggle 
to  hold  the  home  trade.  The  so-called  "Old  English  style" 
was  developed  on  strict  mathematical  lines,  and  gems  cut  by 
these  artists  are  still  eagerly  sought  as  models  of  the  lapidary's 
art;  but  the  centralizing  drift  to  Holland  was  too  strong  for 
competition  until  the  discovery  of  the  South  African  Diamond 
Fields.  In  the  last  twenty  years  the  languishing  art  has 
raised  its  head  in  England,  and  become,  without  doubt,  a  well- 
established  industry.  A  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  London 
was  accounted  the  chief  centre  of  business  for  lapidaries,  and 
it  is  not  beyond  expectation  that  its  former  preeminence  may 
be  reestablished.  Even  now  it  is  thought  that  diamond  crystals 


CUTTING   AND    POLISHING  551 

are  cut  in  London  town  as  well  as  the  work  can  be  done  in  Am- 
sterdam. 

In  the  United  States  the  late  Henry  G.  Morse  of  Boston 
was  the  pioneer  in  establishing  the  lapidary  business  on  a  suc- 
cessful footing  early  in  the  last  (nineteenth)  century.  He  opened 
his  workshop  in  Boston  in  1866,  and  made  several  important 
improvements  upon  the  cumbrous  machinery  in  use  in  Europe. 
His  business  was  confined,  at  first,  to  recutting  and  polishing 
damaged  gems;  but  the  influx  of  South  African  diamonds  brought 
about  speedily  an  enlargement  of  his  works  and  the  employment 
of  thirty  expert  hands.  At  the  start  only  foreign  workmen  were 
engaged,  but  Mr.  Morse  succeeded  in  training  American  women 
to  a  height  of  proficiency  as  lapidaries  which  rivalled  the  best 
foreign  work.  Among  the  fine  gems  cut  and  polished  in  his 
shop  were  four  weighing  fifty  carats  each,  and  he  later  scored  a 
notable  success  with  the  cutting  of  a  superb  South  African  dia- 
mond weighing  125  carats.  The  brilliant  fashioned  from  this 
stone  weighed  77  carats,  and  has  been  greatly  admired  by  con- 
noisseurs as  a  specimen  of  exquisite  beauty  and  purity  developed 
by  perfect  workmanship.  The  cutting  and  finishing  of  this  gem 
was  a  work  occupying  three  and  a  half  months. 

In  spite  of  this  well-designed  and  ably  pushed  venture  of 
Mr.  Morse,  American  lapidaries  have  struggled  continuously 
under  serious  handicaps.  The  United  States  is  not  a  producer 
of  diamonds,  and  Europe  is  the  established  mart  for  rough  stones 
from  India,  Africa,  and  Brazil.  Moreover,  the  business  of  dia- 
mond cutting  has  been  so  firmly  rooted  in  Europe  that  the  work 
naturally  gravitates  to  these  older  establishments.  Foreign  lapi- 
daries and  dealers  enjoy  a  further  advantage  in  the  fact  that  the 
banks  of  England  and  Holland  make  loans  on  uncut  stones, 
knowing  that  the  finished  diamond  is  much  enhanced  in  value, 
while  American  bankers  do  not  grant  such  assistance  to  Ameri- 
can cutters  and  dealers.  Nevertheless,  the  work  of  diamond 
cutting  has  been  so  persistently  developed  that  over  half  of  the 
diamonds  imported  now  enter  as  rough  stones.1 

1  George  F.  Kunz. 


A  Group  of  Directors,  General  Manager,  and  Secretary  of  De  lieers  Consolidated  Mines  Ltd. 


CHAPTER    XIX 

AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 

HAT  a  change  came  over  the  dismal  face  of 
South  Africa  with  the  discovery  and  develop- 
ment of  the  diamond  mines !  In  a  former 
chapter  it  has  been  shown  how  dragging  had 
been  the  advance  from  the  few  scattered  settle- 
ments on  the  coast  up  to  the  year  when  the 
revelation  of  diamonds  drew  the  first  rush  of  prospectors  to  the 
banks  of  the  Vaal.  The  yield  of  this  marvellous  field  was, 
from  the  first,  of  material  consequence  in  the  sum  of  South 
African  products,  but  it  was  of  far  greater  importance  in  the 
stimulus  which  it  gave  to  the  flagging  and  stinted  enterprises 
and  the  sinking  hearts  of  the  colonists. 

The   bits   of  iron   hoop   that   scraped   the   diamond-bearing 
ground  were  as  transforming  as  magicians'  wands.     The  river 

552 


AN   UPLIFTING   POWER 


553 


wash  of  the  Vaal  glittered  like  the  diamond-strewn  valley  of 
Sindbad.  No  Man's  Land  had  the  sparkle  of  diamond  founts. 
No  part  of  the  world  was  too  remote  to  be  dazzled  by  the  vision 
of  the  novel  Golconda,  and  the  black  face  of  the  despised  karoo 
changed  in  a  twinkling  to  one  of  transcendent  promise. 

Then   came   the   rush   from  every  quarter  of  the  globe  of 
ardent  visionaries  and  fortune-hunters,  streaming  over  the  desert 


Natives  riding  Bullocks. 

sands  of  South  Africa  from  every  coast  port  to  the  Diamond 
Fields,  while  from  far  inland  the  tribesmen  flocked  to  the  same 
glittering  beacon.  Bitter  experience  rubbed  the  glamour  from 
the  eyes  of  thousands  of  visionaries,  who  trooped  back  dis- 
heartened, but  the  plucky  and  the  lucky  held  their  ground  and 
thousands  came  streaming  in  to  take  the  places  of  the  faint- 
hearted. It  followed  naturally,  too,  that  thousands  who  would 
never  have  come  to  South  Africa  except  at  the  beckoning  of  the 


554      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

diamond  lure,  remained  in  the  country  even  after  the  blasting 
of  their  hopes   of  diamond  winning.      Many  were  ashamed  to 


Pioneers  Trekking. 

run  away  with  the  confession  of  failure ;  many  were  too  poor 
to  get  away,  and  many  were  keen  to  see  the  profitable  openings 
in  other  occupations  for  their  work  and  savings.  So  every 
industry  in  the  colonies  gained  new  headway  with  the  influx 


A  Prospecting  Expedition  to  Mashonaland. 

of  capital  and  labor.  Supplies  of  all  kinds  were  needed  for  the 
bustling  diamond  camps  and  the  flow  of  travel  between  the 
mines  and  the  coast. 


AN   UPLIFTING    POWER 


555 


Trekking  on  the  Veld. 

This  demand  was  quite  enough  to  stir  the  pulse  of  produc- 
tion in  every  part  of  South  Africa,  and  the  heartening  impulse 
thus  given  was  sustained  and  advanced  far  beyond  the  stretch 
of  this  novel  requirement  by  the  rising  faith  in  the  possibilities 
and  future  of  South  Africa  as  a  field  for  investment,  which  now 
began  to  lift  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  colonists  and  to  attract 
the  cooperation  of  the  home  country  and  the  leading  nations 
of  the  world.  Hopeful  prospectors  rambled  off  farther  and 
farther  over  the  deserts  and  ranges,  or  followed  the  water- 
courses, testing  the  sands  for  diamonds  or  gold,  and  picking 
at  every  promising  ledge  in  their  search  for  ore.  Pioneer 


Trekking  on  the  Veld. 


556       THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

graziers  trekked  to  new  pasture  grounds  with  their  flocks  and 
herds.  Abandoned  farms  were  reoccupied  and  virgin  soil 
upturned  for  crops.  Manufactures  of  various  kinds  began  to 
spring  up  and  multiply.  Not  only  Cape  Town  but  little  coast 
ports  were  thick  set  with  steamers  busily  discharging  cargoes 
on  piers  or  in  lighters  and  bidding  for  exports  at  rates  highly 
stimulating  to  the  products  of  the  Colonies. 

The  march  of  development  was  signally  marked  in  the  con- 


The  first  and  only  Load  of  Cotton  raised  in  South  Africa. 

struction  of  railways  to  meet  the  pressing  demands  for  inland 
communication  and  transportation,  and  especially  the  imperative 
call  of  the  Diamond  Fields.  The  progress  of  mining  was 
greatly  handicapped  from  the  start  by  the  heavy  cost  of  drag- 
ging supplies  in  lumbering  ox-wagons  for  hundreds  of  miles 
from  the  coast  ports,  and  the  patent  impossibility  of  moving 
any  large  plant  in  this  way  for  mine  opening  or  diamond  win- 
ning. The  pioneer  railway  from  Cape  Town  to  Wellington 
barely  covered  a  twelfth  of  the  stretch  from  the  coast  to  the 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


557 


mines,  and  the  little  lines  from  Salt  River  to  Wynberg,  and 
from  Port  Elizabeth  to  Uitenhage  were  of  no  service  in  the 
advance  of  transportation. 

However,  capital  was  wary  and  loath  to  invest  in  any  of  the 
projects  for  railway  building  into  the  heart  of  South  Africa,  until 
the  continued  working  of  the  Diamond  Fields  for  three  years 
convinced  investors  that  rich  diamond  deposits  were  indeed 


Zebra. 


open,  whose  continuance  in  depth  might  reasonably  be  antici- 
pated. When  the  export  of  diamonds  in  1872  amounted  to 
over  ;£ i, 000,000,  the  Cape  Government  authorized  the  pur- 
chase of  the  sixty  miles  of  railway  then  in  place  in  the  colony 
and  sanctioned  the  extension  of  the  existing  line  and  the  con- 
struction of  railways  from  Port  Elizabeth  and  East  London. 
It  was  a  heavy  strain  to  raise  capital  for  the  extension  of  all 
simultaneously ;  so  the  advances  were  groping  and  slow.  At 


558       THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 


Coach  leaving  Kimberley  for  the  Transvaal  Gold  Fields  before  the  Day  of  the  Railway. 

some  points,  too,  there  was  even  an  obstinate  fight  against  any 
railway  extension  in  their  direction.  Little  towns  that  had  been 
centres  of  distribution  for  surrounding  districts  feared  that  the 


Cape  Town  and  Table  Mountain  from  Table  Bay. 


AN   UPLIFTING    POWER 


559 


railroad  would  divert  some  trade  and  shake  their  preeminence. 
It  was  further  contended  that  the  whole  scheme  was  chimerical 
and  that  the  uncertain  yield  of  the  South  African  farms  and  the 
wide-ranging  pasture  lands  could  not  pay  interest  on  the  cost 
of  construction  and  maintenance.  One  of  the  most  persistent 
objectors,  the  town  of  Worcester,  actually  sent  in  five  petitions 
against  the  extension  of  the  railway  line  to  that  point. 


A  Group  of  Well-known  Kimberley  Men. 

There  was  further  protracted  disputing  over  the  proper  gauge 
for  adoption  after  an  extension  had  been  determined.  The  short 
line  already  constructed  from  Cape  Town  to  Wellington  was  of 
the  standard  English  gauge,  4  feet  8J  inches,  but  the  continuance 
of  this  gauge  was  generally  opposed.  It  was  urged  that  the  light 
traffic  of  the  country  would  not  warrant  the  heavy  outlay  requisite 
for  the  construction  of  lines  of  the  standard  adapted  to  the  require- 
ments of  a  thickly  settled  country  like  Great  Britain,  and  that  only 
narrow-gauge  lines  were  practicable.  Some  would  have  pushed 
this  reduction  of  gauge  to  2  feet  6  inches,  or  even  less,  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  some  of  the  lines  might  be  reduced  to  the  necessity 
of  resorting  to  tram  car  and  mule  service,  but  the  final  conclusion 


560      THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF  SOUTH   AFRICA 

was  the  adoption  of  a  standard  gauge  of  3  feet  6  inches.  It  was 
properly  recognized  that  uniformity  of  gauge,  at  any  rate,  was 
essential  for  intercommunication,  and  whimsical  notions  of  con- 
struction were  not  suffered  to  break  this  uniformity.  Time  has 
shown  the  fallacy  of  these  pessimistic  predictions  as  well  as  the 
adoption  of  the  3  feet  6  inches  gauge. 

There  was,  however,  one  essential  error  in  the  whole  scheme 
of  construction.  The  pressure  of  the  demand  of  widely  separated 
points  for  railway  construction  was  so  hard  to  resist  that  the  Par- 


Eland. 


liamentary  authorization  for  railway  extensions  was  far  in  excess 
of  what  was  feasible  at  the  time  in  view  of  the  limited  capital  that 
could  be  secured  for  the  prosecution  of  the  scheme.  The  rivalry 
of  the  principal  ports  was  too  keen  to  permit  of  the  drafting  of  any 
cooperative  plan  of  extension,  for  the  superior  accommodation, 
even  temporarily,  accorded  to  any  one  port  would  be  challenged 
by  others  as  injurious  favoritism.  So,  instead  of  carrying  forward 
a  single  main  line  by  the  most  direct  or  feasible  route  to  the  Dia- 
mond Fields  to  meet  the  most  pressing  demands  for  communi- 
cation, there  was  for  many  years  only  a  crawling  advance  from  the 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


561 


562      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Table  Mountain,  from  the  West. 


competing  coast  ports,  Cape  Town  and  Port  Elizabeth.  Neither 
of  these  competing  lines  were  able  to  pay  any  adequate  return 
upon  the  capital  invested,  and  the  common  aim  of  reaching  the 
Diamond  Fields  was  blocked  and  greatly  delayed.  Kimberley  was 
distant  only  485  miles  from  the  nearest  outlet  on  the  coast,  Port 
Elizabeth  ;  but  1600  miles  of  converging  railway  lines  were  actu- 
ally built  before  one  was  extended  from  De  Aar  to  Kimberley, 
in  November,  1885,  then  first  putting  the  richly  productive 
diamond  mines  in  railway  communication  with  the  coast. 

All  the  lines  in  operation  at  this  time  were  single  lines,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Cape  Town-Wynberg  line,  and  the  first  six 
miles  of  the  Port  Elizabeth-Uitenhage  line.  The  most  difficult 
engineering  in  the  course  of  this  railway  extension  was  in  the 
crossing  of  the  barrier  range  of  mountains  forming  the  ridge  of 
the  karoo  plateau.  After  repeated  surveys  an  entrance  for  the 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


563 


line  from  Cape  Town  was  effected  through  the  Hex  River  Valley 

with  a  gradual  ascent  to  Hex  River  Kast,  where  the  line  begins 

to  climb  the  mountains  by  sweeping  curves  and  zigzags,  piercing 

some  of  the  spurs  in  tunnels,  and  spanning  gulleys  with  viaducts, 

until  it  attains  its  highest  elevation  of  3588  feet  at  Pieter  Meintjes 

Fontein,  77  miles  from  Worcester.     This  is  a  trifle  higher  than 

the     summit     of 

Table      Mountain, 

which   rises    in    air 

3582     feet     above 

Cape  Town.      For 

a   stretch   of   more 

than    20    miles    in 

the    ascent  of  this 

ridge,  the  gradients 

are  one  in  40  and 

one    in    45,   with 

curves  of  five  chains 

radius. 

In  the  year  fol- 
lowing the  exten- 
sion to  Kimberley 
there  was  a  fortu- 
nate impulse  to  the 
extension  and  oper- 
ation of  all  the  lines 
by  the  discovery  of 
the  Witwatersrand 
Gold  Fields.  Then  first  appeared  some  substantial  prospect  of 
profit  for  all  the  competing  lines  by  the  addition  of  another  great 
centre  of  attraction  and  production.  The  junction  of  the  Cape 
Town  and  Port  Elizabeth  line  at  De  Aar,  in  March,  1884,  had 
largely  diverted  the  flow  of  freight  and  passenger  traffic  between 
the  Diamond  Fields  and  the  coast,  which,  for  some  years,  had 
been  passing  principally  along  the  line  through  Graaff  Reinet;  but 
the  rise  of  Johannesburg  offset  this  loss  to  the  Port  Elizabeth, 


His  Excellency  Lord  Milner,  Governor  of  the  Cape  Colony. 


564      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Graaff  Reinet,  and  East  London  lines.  The  linking  of  the  Dia- 
mond and  Gold  Fields  by  direct  railway  communication  from 
Kimberley  to  Johannesburg  was  apparently  of  high  importance ; 
but  this  extension  has  been  blocked  for  years  by  the  action  of  the 
Orange  Free  State  in  refusing  to  build  the  line  themselves  or  to 
allow  either  the  Cape  Government  or  private  corporations  to 
construct  it.  Several  years  were  passed  in  dilly-dallying  before 
sanction  was  given  to  the  Cape  Government  for  an  extension  of 
a  connecting  link  of  the  Cape  Town  and  Port  Elizabeth  lines 


Donkey  Transport. 

from  Naauw  Port  across  the  Orange  River  at  Norvals  Pont, 
thence  to  Bloemfontein  and  the  Vaal  River  at  Vereeniging,  where 
it  connected  with  the  Netherland  Company's  system  of  the 
Transvaal.  It  was  not  until  September,  1892,  that  the  first 
through  train  from  the  Cape  reached  Pretoria,  but  after  the 
essential  link  was  constructed,  the  Cape  Town  and  Port  Eliza- 
beth lines  contrived  to  secure  the  greater  share  of  the  Transvaal 
traffic  for  the  next  three  or  four  years. 

While  these  two  lines  were  delayed  in  reaching  out  for  the 
business  of  the  Gold  Fields,  a  more  favored  competitor,  the 
Netherlands  Railway  Company,  was  actively  building  an  eastern 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


565 


line  from  Portuguese  territory  through  Middleburg  to  Pretoria, 
and  shortly  afterward  running  radial  lines  southeast  to  Natal 
and  southwest  to  Klerksdorp.  By  the  extension  of  these  well- 
designed  lines  the  first  through  train  from  Delagoa  Bay  arrived 
in  Johannesburg  in  November,  1894,  a"d  the  first  train  from 
Natal  in  December,  1895.  More  than  two  years  later,  in 
March,  1898,  the  dragging  extension  of  the  Graaff  Reinet  line 
was  opened  to  Rosmead  Junction,  on  the  main  line  to  Port 
Elizabeth,  and  was  then  in  a  position  to  assist  in  carrying 
merchandise  from  the  coast  to  the  Diamond  and  Gold  Fields. 


A  South  African  Farm. 


While  these  railway  extensions  essential  to  the  development 
of  the  existing  States  and  Colonies  in  South  Africa  were  more 
or  less  efficiently  accomplished,  the  grand  project  of  Mr. 
Rhodes  for  a  railway  running  far  north  into  the  heart  of  Africa 
was  most  energetically  prosecuted.  By  the  advance  of  his 
exploration  and  colonization  plan,  to  be  hereafter  described,  the 
range  of  British  territory  was  extended  from  Table  Bay  to  the 
shores  of  Lakes  Tanganyika  and  Moero. 

The  line  from  Kimberley  was  opened  to  Vryburg,  774  miles 
from  Cape  Town,  December  i,  I89O.1  Thus  far  the  conserva- 
tive government  was  prevailed  upon  to  proceed,  but  the  profit 
1  Report  of  the  General  Manager  of  Railways,  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  1898. 


566       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OE   SOUTH    AFRICA 


from  any  further  extension  seemed  so  essentially  speculative 
that  it  is  very  doubtful  if  any  further  advance  would  have  been 
made,  had  it  not  been  for  the  daring  enterprise  of  the  Bechuana- 
land  Railway  Company,  an  organization  promoted  and  financed 
by  Mr.  Rhodes  and  his  far-sighted  associates.  Following  hard 

upon  the  heels  of 
the  pioneers  in 
Mashonaland  and 
the  conquest  of 
Matabel eland  the 
line  from  Vryburg 
was  opened  to 
Bulawayo  in  No- 
vember, 1897. 

When  the 
grand  importance 
of  this  railway 
advance  became 
clear,  even  to  the 
doubters,  the  Brit- 
ish Government  subsequently  guaranteed  a  loan  of  ^2,000,000 
to  carry  the  line  800  miles  farther  on  to  Lake  Tanganyika. 

With  the  rate  of  progress  attained  it  was  expected  that  Aber- 
corn  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Tanganyika  would  be  reached  in  four 
years,  but  the  outbreak  of  the  war  with  the  South  African  States 
was  an  unlooked-for  clog  to  this  advance.  As  soon  as  the  line 
has  reached  Lake  Tanganyika  a  further  extension  of  600  miles 
to  Uganda  through  the  Congo  Free  State  has  been  guaranteed 
by  an  appropriation  of  the  needed  funds  by  vote  of  the  share- 
holders of  the  African  Transcontinental  Railway  Company. 
Besides  this  main  line  of  advance,  the  Beira  Railway,  which 
was  constructed  with  a  gauge  of  two  feet,  had  been  completed 
and  engines  were  running  as  far  as  Salisbury  over  a  stretch  of 
line  375  miles  in  length  before  the  close  of  1900.  The  narrow 
gauge  of  two  feet  was  soon  found  to  be  unworkable,  and  the  line 
has  already  been  relaid  from  Beira  to  Umtali  with  heavier  rails 


Natives  shearing  Sheep. 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


567 


and  with  the  standard  South  African  gauge  of  3  feet  6  inches, 
the  remaining  stretch  from  Umtali  to  Salisbury  having  been 
originally  laid  with  the  broader  gauge. 

In  spite  of  the  lack  of  cooperation  and  capital,  and  all  other 
impediments  and  delays  in  view  of  the  character  of  the  country, 
the  advance  of  railway  systems  in  South  Africa  has  been  phe- 
nomenal in  the  last  few  years.  Including  the  six  or  seven  short 
private  lines  constructed  for  the  advance  of  mining  operations 
and  suburban  and  other  local  traffic,  there  were  2264  miles  of 
railway  in  Cape  Colony  at  the  close  of  the  year  1898.  The 
Transvaal  came  next  with  777  miles,  followed  by  Rhodesia  with 
604  miles,  Natal  with  465  miles,  and  the  Free  State  with  361 
miles.  Besides  this  aggregate,  256  miles  had  been  constructed 


Dutch  Farm  in  the  Karoo. 


in  Portuguese  territory,  making  a  total  of  4727  miles  of  railway 
actually  opened  and  working  in  South  Africa,  and  more  than 
half  as  much  more  in  process  of  construction,  or  guaranteed  by 
appropriations. 

In  the  struggle  to  reach  the  goal  of  the  Diamond  Fields,  with 
the  handicap  of  the  lack  of  capital,  it  is  not  surprising  that  much 
of  the  roadways  and  the  rolling  stock  fell  below  any  high  modern 
standard.  The  light  rails  and  rickety  cars  answered  the  purpose 


568       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Beaufort  West,  a  Little  Town  on  the  High  Veld. 

of  the  day,  however,  fairly  well,  and  have  since  been  largely 
replaced  by  a  plant  that  will  bear  wear  and  tear,  but  is  still  not 
up  to  the  requirements.  Makeshift  bridges  were  soon  sup- 
planted by  durable  structures,  and  other  engineering  works  on 
the  lines  of  the  various  systems  have  also  been  greatly  improved. 
The  engineers  who  advanced  the  pioneer  lines  deserve,  on  the 
whole,  high  credit  for  their  energy  and  talent  in  piercing  or  trav- 
ersing the  barriers  in  their  way.  At  the  time  when  the  first 
train  reached  the  Witwatersrand  Gold  Fields,  at  the  close  of 
1892,  there  were  somewhat  more  than  8500  bridges,  culverts,  and 
cuts  to  be  counted  on  the  various  lines.  Some  of  this  bridge 
construction,  especially  the  bridges  across  the  Orange  and  Vaal 
rivers,  was  of  a  high  order  of  excellence.  The  Orange  River 
bridge  on  the  Kimberley  line  has  a  length  of  1230  feet,  with 
open  spans  of  130  feet  each  between  the  piers.  The  Bethulie 
bridge  is  1486  feet  long,  and  the  Norvals  Pont  bridge,1  the 
longest  of  all,  has  13  spans  of  130  feet,  and  a  total  stretch 
closely  approaching  1700  feet.  The  total  cost  of  this  fine 
bridge  was  ^76,593.  At  Fourteen  Streams,2  on  the  Vaal  River, 
there  is  a  bridge  often  spans  of  133  feet  that  is  fittingly  classed 
with  the  chief  Orange  River  bridges. 
1  See  photograph,  Chapter  XX,  of  this  bridge  after  destruction  by  the  Boers.  2  Ibid, 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


569 


For  rapidity  of  building  railways  the  palm  has  heretofore  been 
claimed  by  America,  but  the  best  American  records  have  been 
challenged  repeatedly  in  the  advance  of  the  African  Transcon- 
tinental Railway,  and  it  is  now  claimed  that  the  world's  record 
for  rapid  construction  and  bridge  building  has  been  captured  by 
The  Patent  Shaft  and  Axletree  Company,  of  Wednesbury,  Eng- 
land. The  Boers  had  effected  the  isolation  of  General  White 
and  his  men  in  Ladysmith  by  blowing  up  the  two  railway  bridges 
on  the  Tugela  River  at  Colenso  and  Frere,  and,  promptly  on 
learning  of  the  destruction  of  these  bridges,  the  Natal  Govern- 
ment took  steps  for  their  rebuilding.  The  crossing  over  the 
Tugela  at  Colenso  was  designed  in  five  spans  of  105  feet  each, 
and  the  crossing  at  Frere  of  two  spans  of  the  same  length.  The 
call  for  the  utmost  haste  in  construction  was  imperative,  and 
tenders  were  invited,  both  in  England  and  America.  The  con- 
tract was  awarded  to  The  Patent  Shaft  and  Axletree  Company 
upon  its  undertaking  to  deliver  the  first  span  in  six  weeks  from 
the  day  of  the 
contract.  The 
order  was  given 
on  the  2  ist  of 
December,  1899, 
and  the  first  span 
was  finished  on 
the  ijth  of  Janu- 
ary, 1900,  or  in 
nineteen  working 

days.       When  the  Norvals  Pont  Bridge. 

order  was  received,  nothing  was  in  stock  at  the  company's  works 
from  which  the  structural  steel  was  rolled,  yet  at  five  o'clock  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  day  of  the  order  100  tons  had  been  rolled  at 
the  company's  works,  and  tested  and  approved  by  the  engineer 
of  the  Natal  Government.  Each  of  the  spans  weighs  105  tons, 
or  a  ton  to  the  lineal  foot  of  the  bridge.  There  was  about  7500 
feet  of  planing  work,  and  69,000  rivet  holes  were  drilled  in 
each  span;  yet  on  January  19,  two  of  the  spans  had  been  built 


570       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

and  work  begun  on  three  more,  while  the  material  for  the  whole 
seven  for  both  bridges  had  been  rolled,  cut  to  size,  tested,  and 
approved.1 

Besides  government  railway  building,  important  private  lines 
have  been  constructed  for  the  operation  of  large  mining  works, 
and  local  or  suburban  traffic.  The  oldest  of  these  lines  was  the 
undertaking  of  the  Cape  Copper  Company,  covering  a  stretch  of 
100  miles  from  Port  Nolloth  to  Ookiep.  Some  of  the  grades 
on  this  line  are  very  notably  steep,  exceeding  any  others  where 
ordinary  steam-engine  traction  is  employed.  For  this  service 
special  engines  were  constructed  by  Litson  &  Co.  of  Leeds,  which 
have  been  working  very  successfully  since  October,  1890.  On 
Klipfontein  mountain  there  is  a  rise  of  1330  feet  in  7-^  miles,  and 
in  several  sections  the  gradient  reaches  the  extreme  of  i  foot 
in  19.  This  line  was  built  for  the  development  of  the  Nama- 
qualand  copper  mines,  one  of  the  most  profitable  undertakings 
in  the  Colony.  The  Cape  Copper  Company  owns  most  of  the 
paying  mines,  and  has  been  extracting  annually  about  30,000 
tons  of  ore,  averaging  nearly  20  per  cent  in  copper. 

The  Indwe  Railway  Company's  line  is  only  second  to  this, 
with  a  length  of  66^  miles.  This  line  was  opened  in  1896  to 
reach  the  Indwe  coal  mines,  and  is  operated  by  the  Cape  Gov- 
ernment as  a  branch  of  the  Eastern  System  which  it  joins  at 
Sterkstroom.  It  was  built  by  the  Indwe  Company  with  the 
material  assistance  of  De  Beers,  which  subscribed  .£75,000  to  its 
working  capital.  The  Company  owned  all  its  rolling  stock,  but 
it  was  operated  under  the  supervision  of  the  Cape  Government 
Railway  Department.  This  railway  has  been  lately  sold  to  the 
Cape  Government,  and  is  to  be  extended  to  Natal. 

It  is  computed  that  the  lines  owned  and  operated  by  the 
Cape  Government  have  cost,  with  their  rolling  stock,  about 
^20,000,000,  representing  the  investment  of  about  ^£7200  per 
mile.  The  capital  invested  in  the  Natal  lines  was  ^6,750,000  ; 
showing  an  outlay  of  ^£1 5,000  per  mile.  The  777  miles  of 

1  The  Engineer,  London,  England,  February,  1900.  The  Scientific  American, 
February  24,  1900. 


AN    UPLIFTING   POWER 


571 


Netherlands  Company  cost  nearly  £9,000,000,  or  .£13,500  per 
mile.  This  gives  a  total  of  £"38,000,000  for  the  construction  of 
3500  miles  of  railway,  not  including  lines  owned  and  operated 
on  private  account.  With  all  lines  included,  it  is  estimated  that 
there  is  a  total  outlay  of  £$6  per  head  of  the  white  population 
of  the  country,  which  does  not  average  more  than  163  to  the 
mile  of  railway  opened. 

In  1896  the  earnings  of 
the  Cape  Government  rail- 
ways came  to  something  over 
^£4,000,000,  of  the  Natal  rail- 
ways £1,000,000,  and  of  the 
Netherlands  Company  nearly 
.£3,000,000.  The  net  profit 
after  paying  interest  on  capital 
in  the  Cape  was  .£1,221,675  >  m 
Natal  £"464,762 ;  and  in  the 
Transvaal  ,£1,328,424,  making 
a  total  of  over  ^£3, 000,000, 
not  including  the  Free  State 
share  of  profit,  which  for  1896 
was  ^289,553. 

Five  extensions  were  au- 
thorized by  the  Volksraad  reso- 
lution of  the  Free  State  in 
October,  1896.  One  line 
through  Fauresmith  was  to  serve  the  diamond  mines  of  Jagers- 
fontein  and  Kofiyfontein  and  place  them  in  direct  communication 
with  the  coast  ports.  In  1898  the  Free  State  decided  to  build  a 
railway  by  concession  from  Bloemfontein  to  Kimberley,  and  to 
extend  the  Springfontein-Fauresmith  line  to  join  the  Bloemfon- 
tein-Kimberley  line  at  a  point  near  Petrusburg.  The  Springfon- 
tein-Fauresmith line  forms  a  direct  route  between  East  London 
and  Kimberley,  shortening  the  present  route  by  100  miles,  mak- 
ing East  London  40  miles  nearer  to  Kimberley  than  Port  Eliza- 
beth. The  Bloemfontein-Kimberley  line  will  reduce  the  present 


His  Excellency  Sir  Walter  Hely  Hutchinsen, 
Late  Governor  of  Natal. 


572      THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

distance  by  rail  between  Kimberley  and  Johannesburg  and  Cape 
Town.  The  war  has,  for  the  time  being,  stopped  this  work. 

The  Natal  Government  is  also  proceeding  with  the  construc- 
tion of  north  and  south  coast  lines  :  one  through  Verulam  to 
Zululand,  and  the  other  to  the  Cape  border,  where  it  will  connect 
with  the  extension  of  the  Storkstroom-Indwe  line. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  only  781  miles  of  telegraph  were  open 
in  all  of  South  Africa.  A  message  of  twenty  words  from  Cape 
Town  to  East  London  cost  ijs.  6d.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  late 
war  19,000  miles  of  wire  were  working  in  Cape  Colony,  and 
probably  10,000  miles  in  other  states  and  colonies.  The  march 
of  the  telegraph  through  South  Africa  will  be  later  detailed. 

In  addition  to  the  railway  and  telegraph,  several  thousand 
miles  of  excellent  roads  have  been  made,  and  every  river  of  mag- 
nitude has  been  spanned  by  substantial  bridges.  The  great 
Zwarte  Berg  Pass,  which  rises  3400  feet  in  eleven  miles  from 
base  to  summit,  is  one  of  the  finest  monuments  of  road  con- 
struction to  be  seen  in  any  country. 

At  every  port  the  shipping  accommodations  have  been  ex- 
tended and  improved,  and  approaches  to  the  coast  have  been 
made  safer  by  construction  of  numerous  lighthouses. 

The  impulse  given  by  the  Diamond  Fields  development  for 
prospecting  for  mineral  deposits  of  all  kinds  led  to  the  discovery 
of  the  mines  of  Lydenburg,  De  Kaap,  and  the  Rand.  In  the 
year  preceding  the  discovery  of  diamonds  Thomas  Baines  had 
led  a  party  from  Durban  to  prospect  for  gold  in  Matabeleland, 
and  secured  a  concession  from  Lobengula  in  April,  1870,  to 
dig  for  gold  in  the  district  between  the  Gwelo  and  Ganyona 
rivers.  But  Baines's  party  found  no  largely  promising  deposits, 
and  without  the  excitement  of  the  rush  to  Kimberley  there  would 
hardly  have  been  any  considerable  and  determined  effort  to  push 
prospecting  far  beyond  the  Vaal.  Luckily,  shortly  after  the 
rush  to  the  Diamond  Fields  in  1871,  reef  gold  was  found  by  pros- 
pectors at  Eersteling  and  Marabastad,  and,  two  years  later,  gold 
placers  were  discovered  about  thirty-three  miles  east  of  Lyden- 
burg, at  Pilgrim's  Rest. 


AN   UPLIFTING   POWER  573 

These  discoveries  were  greatly  magnified  in  the  fever  of 
speculation  excited  by  the  opening  of  the  diamond  beds,  and 
companies  were  formed  in  Natal  and  England  to  develop  these 
gold-fields,  while  daring  adventurers  pushed  still  farther  on,  to 
the  region  north  of  the  Limpopo,  seeking  the  traces  of  the 
ancient  mining  works  that  were  known  to  exist.  Upon  the 
report  of  the  discovery  at  Lydenburg  some  fifteen  hundred  pros- 
pectors flocked  to  this  field,  and  a  year  or  two  later  gold  was 
found  in  the  Kaap  Valley,  fifty  miles  south  of  Lydenburg.  The 
returns  from  the  placers  were  hardly  tempting  enough  to  hold 
the  gold  seekers,  and  conflicts  with  the  natives,  followed  by  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  with  the  South  African  Republic  in  1880, 
were  further  discouraging  to  any  development  in  this  region. 
After  the  war  the  exactions  imposed  by  the  South  African  Re- 
public upon  the  prosecution  of  mining  in  the  Lydenburg  district 
were  a  check  to  outside  prospecting. 

In  1882  an  Australian  digger,  Charles  Durnin,  found  some 
very  rich  patches  of  gold-bearing  ground  on  the  Kantoor  plateau 
in  the  Kaap  Valley,  and  the  rush  to  the  Duivels  Kantoor  and 
Moodies  brought  to  pass  the  first  considerable  undertaking  of 
gold  quartz  mining  in  South  Africa.  Some  gold  mines  showing 
great  richness  of  ore  were  soon  developed  in  this  district,  and 
the  bustling  mining  town  of  Barberton  marked  the  centre  of  a 
field  which  was  thought  to  be  of  marvellous  promise.  Unfortu- 
nately the  booming  of  the  district  ran  to  a  pitch  of  insane  and 
fraudulent  speculation  that  was  greatly  damaging  to  the  reputa- 
tion of  this  field  of  investment,  and  gold  mining  undertakings 
in  South  Africa  would  commonly  have  been  reckoned  as 
"bubbles,"  had  it  not  been  for  the  uncovering,  at  this  juncture, 
of  the  astonishing  riches  of  the  Rand. 

Nearly  twenty  years  before,  the  famous  elephant  hunter, 
H.  Hartley,  after  marking  the  gold-bearing  ground  in  Matabele- 
land  and  the  region  of  the  Zambesi,  made  his  home  on  a  farm 
in  the  Witwatersrand,  unconsciously  settling  on  the  face  of 
deposits  of  gold  far  more  marvellous  than  any  tradition  of  King 
Solomon's  mines.  Hartley  died  without  any  vision  of  the  treas- 


574      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

ures  over  which  he  and  others  were  tramping  day  after  day. 
It  was  soon  noticed  by  roving  prospectors,  and  by  settlers  in 
the  district,  that  there  was  gold-bearing  sand  in  the  beds  of  the 
little  river  and  creeks  rising  in  the  Witwatersrand,  but  no  note- 
worthy search  for  gold  was  attempted  until  an  Australian  mining 
man,  Armfield,  a  reputed  expert,  was  sent  to  prospect  in  this 
region  during  the  British  occupation  from  1876  to  1880.  He 
made  some  tests  of  quartz  ledges  on  a  farm  adjoining  Paarde- 
kraal,  but  found  nothing  of  value. 

The  credit  of  the  first  important  revelation  of  gold  in  the 
district  undoubtedly  belongs  to  Mr.  Fred  Struben,  who  had 
given  his  earnest  attention  to  the  gold  developments  in  the 
Transvaal,  and  who  prospected  the  Witwatersberg  district  in 
1883,  and  found  traces  of  gold  in  creeks  and  reefs,  as  well  as 
ancient  workings  for  copper.  In  the  following  year  his  elder 
brother,  Mr.  H.  W.  Struben,  purchased  two  small  farms  on  the 
northwestern  end  of  Witwatersrand,  and  both  the  Strubens 
continued  their  prospecting  energetically  during  the  year.  In 
the  summer  of  1884  a  gold-bearing  vein  or  reef  was  discovered 
and  traced  for  several  miles  by  Fred  Struben.  Ore  shoots  and 
pockets  were  found  which  assayed  over  one  thousand  ounces  of 
gold  and  silver  to  the  ton.  The  rich  ledge,  named  the  Confi- 
dence Reef,  was  supposed  to  be  of  prime  importance ;  and  the 
Strubens  erected  a  five-stamp  battery  on  the  ground  to  crush 
the  ore  of  this  and  neighboring  ledges.  Several  samples  of  the 
ore  were  tested  in  the  stamp  mill,  but  the  best  ore  yielded  only 
eight  pennyweight  to  the  ton.  Work  on  the  Confidence  Reef 
was  greatly  disappointing,  for  the  gold-bearing  rock  was  soon 
proven  to  be  a  small  deposit. 

In  August,  1885,  I  visited  a  small  mine  called  Kromdraai, 
situated  about  twenty  miles,  in  a  northwesterly  direction,  from 
the  present  site  of  Johannesburg,  but  at  a  much  lower  elevation, 
near  the  old  Pretoria  and  Kimberley  wagon  road.  A  small  reef 
of  gold-bearing  rock  was  being  mined,  and  the  ore  crushed  in  a 
little  mill  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  I  also  spent  a  few  days 
looking  over  the  Confidence  Reef,  with  the  Strubens,  who  were 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


575 


Entrance  —  Groote  Schuur. 


at  that  time  the  most  enthusiastic  and  energetic  prospectors,  as 
well  as  the  most  enlightened  and  progressive  men,  in  the  Trans- 
vaal. Mr.  Henry  Struben  owned  large  estates  near  Pretoria. 

The  Strubens  had  spent  over  £i  1,000  in  their  mining  opera- 
tions in  the  Witwatersrand,  and  their  venture  seemed  a  losing 


576      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH   AFRICA. 

one,  when,  in  the  spring  of  1886,  one  of  their  employees,  Walker, 
found  the  rich  reef,  now  known  as  the  Main  Reef  Leader,  on 
the  farm  Langlaagte,  about  two  miles  west  of  the  present  Johan- 
nesburg. In  July  the  first  sample  of  the  conglomerate  from  the 
reefs  on  the  Langlaagte  farm  was  panned  in  Kimberley.  The 
showing  was  so  remarkable  that  Mr.  J.  B.  Robinson,  backed  by 
Mr.  Alfred  Beit,  who  saw  the  panning,  started  on  the  following 
day  for  the  Rand.  The  Kimberley-Pretoria  coach  road  ran 
through  Potchefstroom,  and  thence  northeast,  leaving  the  little 
pioneer  town  called  "  Ferreira's  Camp "  (now  Johannesburg) 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  to  the  east ;  but  Robinson  drove  in 
a  cart  from  Potchefstroom  to  the  little  sprawling  camp  that  was 
the  first  sprout  of  Johannesburg.  Within  a  day  or  two  after  his 
arrival  he  bought  the  Langlaagte  farm  for  ^7000.  Scoffers, 
who  posed  as  experts,  told  him  bluntly  that  "  a  fool  and  his 
money  were  soon  parted  "  ;  but  he  did  not  take  heed  of  their 
gibes,  and,  before  the  end  of  the  year,  bought  the  whole  of  the 
ground  comprised  in  the  holdings  of  the  "  Robinson  "  Company 
for  ^13,100. 

Messrs.  Rhodes,  Porges,  Beit,  and  other  enterprising  men 
of  Kimberley  shortly  followed  Robinson  in  the  pioneer  work  of 
the  Rand.  In  January,  1897,  tne  development  work  on  the 
Robinson  mine  consisted  of  a  hole  in  the  ground,  fifty  feet  deep, 
which  was  full  of  water.  Robinson,  who  had  been  somewhat 
unfortunate  on  the  Diamond  Fields,  went  "  nap  "  on  the  Gold 
Fields,  and  the  rivalry  between  him  and  Rhodes  was  very  keen. 
One  story,  with  some  foundation  of  fact  at  least,  will  show  this. 
While  Rhodes  was  trying  to  buy  a  farm  from  the  Dutch  owner, 
and  they  were  parleying  in  the  orchard,  Rhodes  conversing  in 
English  and  bad  Dutch,  and  the  Boer  in  Dutch  and  bad  English, 
Robinson  arrived  on  the  ground.  He  went  direct  to  the  farm- 
house, and  at  once  opened  negotiations  for  the  purchase  of  the 
farm  with  the  Boer's  vrouw.  His  familiarity  with  the  "  Taal," 
South  African  Dutch,  was  a  telling  advantage  in  his  competition 
with  Rhodes,  and  he  reckoned  shrewdly  that  the  wife  would  jump 
at  a  bargain  more  quickly  than  the  husband.  So  he  slapped 


AN    UPLIFTING   POWER 


577 


a  handful  of  golden  sovereigns  on  the  table,  saying  smartly, 
"  Those  are  for  you."  The  old  vrouw  clutched  greedily  at  the 
gold  and  called  shrilly  to  her  husband  to  come  to  the  house.  He 
obeyed  the  call  dutifully,  and  when  he  entered  the  door  he  found 
that  his  wife  had  already  sold  the  farm  to  Robinson.  Even  a  hen- 
pecked man  might  have  grumbled  at  such  a  sale,  but  when  the 
simple  Boer  saw  the  heap  of  glittering  sovereigns  on  the  table, 


Groote  Schuur,  after  its  Destruction  by  Fire. 

he  could  not  hold  out  stubbornly  against  a  man  who  had  so 
kindly  presented  his  vrouw  with  so  great  "  a  mark  of  respect." 
While  Rhodes  stood  in  the  orchard,  Robinson  got  the  farm. 

In  the  early  rush  to  the  Rand,  farms  and  mines  were  bought, 
not  so  much  for  any  phenomenal  richness,  as  for  the  fact  that 
they  showed  more  gold  distributed  over  a  greater  stretch  of 
country  than  had  ever  been  disclosed  in  South  Africa.  The  first 
two  or  three  years  were  very  disappointing,  for  the  total  output 
did  not  cover  the  taxes  levied  upon  the  mines  by  the  Govern- 
ment. A  large  percentage  of  the  gold  was  lost  in  working  the 


2  P 


578       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

ores,  for  the  precious  metal  was  so  extremely  minute  that  it 
floated  away  with  the  water,  and,  at  no  considerable  depth,  a 
portion  of  the  gold  was  held  in  the  pyrites,  and  could  not  be 
recovered  by  means  of  the  ordinary  process  of  amalgamation. 
Some  other  process  was  needed  that  would  save  the  minutely 
fine  gold  which  became  suspended  in  the  water  owing  to  the 
attachment  of  globules  of  air.  When  the  Rand  was  discovered, 
no  such  process  had  been  developed  beyond  the  experimental 
stage.  MacArthur  and  Forrest,  of  Glasgow,  were  experiment- 
ing with  a  solution  of  cyanide  of  potassium,  which  was  known 
to  be  a  solvent  of  gold.  They  found  that  the  ores  from  the 
Rand  readily  yielded  their  gold  when  treated  by  this  process, 
which  soon  came  into  general  use.  This  was  the  saving  of  the 
Rand,  for  without  such  treatment  only  a  few  of  the  richer  mines 
would  to-day  be  paying  properties. 

A  little  more  than  a  year  after  Robinson  bought  properties 
on  Witwatersrand,  the  despised  "  cabbage  field"  of  the  Lang- 
laagte  farm  was  floated  with  a  capital  of  ^£450,000,  and  yielded 
^950,000  in  gold  in  the  next  five  years,  with  a  profit  of  nearly 
seventy-five  per  cent  in  dividends  on  the  par  value  of  the  capital 
stock.  The  holdings  of  the  Robinson  Company,  in  the  same 
time,  produced  over  ^£i, 400,000  in  gold  and  paid  ,£570,937  los. 
in  dividends  to  shareholders. 

By  the  discovery  of  the  diamond  mines  in  Griqualand  West, 
a  product  ranging  over  ^80,000,000  in  value  in  less  than  thirty 
years  had  been  added  to  the  meagre  output  of  South  Africa,  and 
the  gold  mines  of  the  Witwatersrand  began,  about  fourteen  years 
ago,  to  swell  this  great  exhibit  of  the  mineral  riches  of  the  land 
by  the  addition  of  gold  already  aggregating  over  ^70,000,000. 

The  annual  flow  from  the  diamond  mines  has  averaged,  for 
years,  over  ,£4,000,000  in  value  and  the  Rand  has  greatly  out- 
stripped even  this  rich  showing.  Prior  to  the  discovery  of  dia- 
monds, the  total  tally  of  South  African  exports  and  imports 
combined  was  not  ^6,000,000  in  value.  In  1898  it  was  nearly 
^50,000,000,  and,  of  the  total  exports,  eighty  per  cent  were 
mineral  products. 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


579 


Pioneers  Trekking  in  Mashonaland. 

With  this  general  survey  it  is  now  practicable  to  trace  with 
more  clearness  the  essential  and  special  services  rendered  in  this 
grand  development  by  Rhodes  and  his  associates  in  De  Beers 
Consolidated  Mines  and  other  organizations.  Viewing,  as  he 
did,  the  control  of  the  Diamond  Fields  very  largely  as  the  inter- 
mediary step  toward  the  attainment  of  an  aim  far  grander,  the 
consolidation  of  the  chief  diamond  mining  properties  had  hardly 
been  effected  when  Rhodes  took  action  swiftly  to  extend  and 
intrench  the  range  of  British  influence  north  of  the  Transvaal 
by  obtaining  the  concession  of  the  mineral  rights  in  Lobengula's 
kingdom  of  Matabeleland,  through  the  adroit  agency  of  Messrs. 
Charles  D.  Rudd,  Rochefort  Maguire,  and  Frank  Thompson,  in 
return  for  an  annuity  of  ^ 1200  and  a  coveted  stock  of  rifles  and 
ammunition.  Lobengula  made  the  grant  which  gave  to  Rhodes 
the  needed  nucleus  for  the  creation  of  the  grand  exploring  and 
developing  agency  which  he  pressed  for  incorporation  as  the 
British  South  Africa  Company. 

There  was  a  natural  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  the  public  in 


580       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


supporting  this  scheme  at  the  outset,  for  the  Matabele  conces- 
sion seemed  to  investors  at  large  little  more  solid  than  a  moonlit 
cloud  bank,  and  even  venturesome  speculators  shrank  from  buy- 
ing shares  in  a  prospecting  license  in  a  country  held  by  savage 
blacks,  trained  in  the  school  of  Chaka  to  pillage  and  murder. 
But  this  incredulity  was  anticipated  by  Rhodes,  and  a  solid  back- 
ing was  given  to  the  enterprise  by  the  subscription  of  De  Beers 
Consolidated  Mines  for  more  than  ^200,000  of  the  working 
capital.  This  was  a  demonstration  of  good  faith  and  practical 
intent  so  convincing  that  the  British  Government  granted  a 
charter  formally  to  the  new  company  in  October,  1889,  and  it 
has  since  been  popularly  known  as  the  Chartered  Company. 
The  government  was  reluctant  to  extend  the  working  scope  of 
the  charter  north  of  the  Zambesi,  but  Rhodes's  aim  was  not  pent 

up  in  Matabeleland,  or  Ma- 
shonaland,  and  by  his  forceful 
representations  the  British 
South  Africa  Company  was 
left  unrestricted  in  its  range  to 
the  north,  as  far  as  it  could 
advance  without  infringing  on 
other  concessions,  or  entering 
territory  acquired  by  Germany 
or  other  nations  of  Europe. 

There  seemed,  at  first, 
some  likelihood  of  competi- 
tion and  possible  conflict  of 
interests  in  the  race  of  exten- 
sion with  another  adventurous 
association,  that  applied  for  a 
charter  as  the  African  Lakes  Company.  But  the  risk  was  fore- 
stalled by  Rhodes's  foresight  and  promptness  of  action.  The 
promoters  of  the  African  Lakes  Company  had  spent  all  the  capi- 
tal they  could  raise,  and  were  so  dangerously  near  the  verge  of 
collapse  that  they  welcomed  the  helping  hands  of  Rhodes  and  his 
friends  without  much  quibbling  over  the  terms  exacted.  At  once 


Khama,  a  Noted  Chief  whose  Country  lies  just 
South  of  Rhodesia. 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


581 


^20,000  were  subscribed  by  the  organizers  of  the  British  South 
Africa  Company  to  float  the  African  Lakes  Company,  and  a  fur- 
ther subscription  of  ^9000  a  year  was  pledged  in  return  for  the 
right  under  certain  conditions  of  merging  the  subsidized  com- 
pany in  the  British  South  Africa  Company. 

Then,  with  his  unhampered  charter  and  its  range  cleared  to 
the  source  of  the   Nile,  Rhodes  was  ready,  like  Davy  Crockett, 


Khama's  Town. 


to  go  ahead.  After  consulting  with  Frank  Selous,  the  famous 
African  hunter,  and  others  familiar  with  the  field,  he  pitched 
upon  Mashonaland  as  the  first  base  of  operations.  Dr.  L.  S. 
Jameson  was  deputed  to  go  to  Bulawayo  and  get  Lobengula's 
express  license  for  this  undertaking.  The  envoy  made  all  pos- 
sible haste  in  his  mission,  and  won  the  king's  favor  so  quickly 
by  his  tactful  bearing  that  the  entry  to  Mashonaland  was  con- 
ceded. Rhodes  lost  no  time  in  taking  advantage  of  this  oppor- 
tunity. A  force  of  five  hundred  armed  men  were  enlisted  under 
the  chartered  right  to  an  adequate  "police,"  and  two  hundred 
pioneers  were  hired  to  make  a  passable  wagon  road  to  Mashona- 
land. Colonel  Pennyfather  was  placed  in  command. 

Meanwhile,  the    fickle  Lobengula  changed  his    mind  when 
Dr.  Jameson  was  no  longer  by  his  side  to  persuade  him,  and  sent 


582       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

a  message  to  the  expedition,  forbidding  the  road-making.  The 
messenger  of  the  king  met  the  British  at  Tuli,  but  the  men 
picked  by  Rhodes  were  not  of  a  temper  to  be  checked  or  fright- 
ened away,  and  the  road  was  pushed  ahead  as  fast  as  possible 
through  the  thick  brush  and  woods  of  the  lowland,  where  the 
peril  from  attack  was  most  to  be  dreaded.  Dr.  Jameson  rode 
in  the  van  with  forty  of  the  best  mounted  men  as  an  advance 


Khama's  Hut. 


guard.  Selous  led  the  pioneers  and  marked  the  roadway.  Fin- 
ally, on  the  1 3th  of  August,  1890,  the  road-makers  came  to  the 
great  plateau  of  Mashonaland,  through  an  easy  mountain  pass, 
and  a  heavy  weight  was  lifted  from  the  minds  of  the  leaders,  for 
on  this  open  plateau  hostile  attacks  were  no  longer  to  be  dreaded, 
and  a  few  hundred  well  armed  and  mounted  men  might  well  defy 
a  horde  of  marching  Matabeles.  It  is  probable  that  this  daring 
advance  would  not  have  been  made  unmolested,  if  Lobengula's 
attention  had  not  been  artfully  distracted  by  a  feint  of  entry  in 
another  quarter  made  by  a  body  of  Bechuanaland  police  on  the. 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


583 


southwest  border  of  Matabeleland.  Thus  was  the  first  grip  of 
civilization  secured  on  the  rich  territory  which  now  bears  fitly 
the  name  of"  Rhodesia,"  in  lasting  commemoration  of  the  grand 
foresight  and  enterprise  of  its  redeemer  from  barbarism,  Cecil 
John  Rhodes. 

No  sooner  was  this  entry  effected  than  Rhodes's  untiring 
energy  sought  further  extensions  of  British  control.  By  treaty 
with  the  native  chief,  Umtasa,  the  neighboring  Manica  was 
brought  under  the  same  protecting  power  as  Mashonaland,  and 


Matabele  Women,  Carrying  Water. 

a  footing  was  gained  with  the  like  expedition  in  the  native  prov- 
ince of  Gazaland.  It  was  obvious  that  no  extended  develop- 
ment of  the  resources  of  this  territory  or  stable  colonization 
could  be  effected  without  railway  connection  with  the  Cape,  and 
Rhodes  at  once  undertook  the  provision  of  capital  for  the  es- 
sential extension  of  the  Transcontinental  Railway  through  Ma- 
feking  to  Mashonaland.  He  raised  the  money  required,  besides 
drawing  heavily  upon  his  private  fortune,  at  the  same  time,  for 
the  Beira  Railway  extension.  He  contributed  also  four-fifths 
of  the  capital  of  the  Transcontinental  Telegraph,  and,  all  this 


584      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


A  Group  of  Visitors  at  Groote  Schuur. 

while,  bearing  in  great  part  the  extraordinary  expenses,  amount- 
ing to  ^£2  50,000  annually  for  the  first  two  years,  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  undertaking  of  the  British  South  Africa  Company 
in  Mashonaland. 

Fortunately,  by  the  extraordinary  executive  ability  of  Dr. 
Jameson,  who  was  appointed  Administrator  for  the  Chartered 
Company  in  1891,  the  immense  outlay  required  of  the  company 
was  reduced  to  only  ^30,000  annually.  The  thriving  town  of 
Victoria  was  founded  and  the  settlement  of  the  country  was  most 
energetically  pressed  in  spite  of  every  obstacle.  But  when  the 
way  for  the  profitable  advance  of  the  company's  operations 
seemed  to  be  clearing,  its  Colony  was  menaced  in  1893  with  utter 
destruction  by  the  attack  of  the  fierce  Matabeles. 

Lobengula  had  viewed  the  entry  of  the  Rhodes  expedition 
into  the  territory  north  of  his  kingdom  with  rising  disgust, 
accentuated  by  his  failure  to  stop  it,  but  it  was  two  years  before 
he  came  to  the  point  of  open  attack.  He  had  been  accustomed, 
all  his  life  long,  to  regard  the  district  occupied  by  his  neighbors. 


AN    UPLIFTING   POWER 


585 


the  weak  and  unwarlike  Mashonas,  as  convenient  harrying 
ground  for  his  brutal  forays.  Marauding  troops  of  freebooters 
were  constantly  harassing  the  poor  Mashonas,  and  oftentimes 
the  king  would  send  his  robbing  and  murdering  expeditions  to 
scourge  the  land,  just  as  he  sent  his  impis  to  take  Ugami,  —  to 
despoil  and  enslave  and  massacre  the  Batuwani,  —  and,  across 
the  Zambesi,  to  raid  the  Mashukulumbwe  or  the  Barotse. 

To  the  sorely  persecuted  Mashonas  the  coming  of  the  Eng- 
lish was  an  assurance  of  protection  which  was  greatly  welcomed, 


Great  Kafir  Kraal,  Mochudi,  Matabeleland. 

but  even  the  presence  of  the  bold  white  men  and  the  unfolding 
of  the  British  flag  did  not  stop  the  marauding.  Dr.  Jameson 
protested  over  and  over  again  to  Lobengula,  but  the  king  was 
deaf.  Finally,  in  July,  1893,  parties  of  the  Matabeles  pushed 
their  ferocious  raids  contemptuously  up  to  the  very  bounds  of 
the  township  of  Victoria,  and  the  English  could  not  look  on 
unmoved.  Then  Dr.  Jameson  sent  a  squad  of  police  to  warn 
off  the  marauders.  The  Matabele  insolently  fired  on  the  guard, 
and  the  police  charged  and  drove  them  flying. 


586      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

This  wholly  rightful  rebuff  upset  the  temper  of  Lobengula, 
who  was  stuffed  with  barbaric  conceit.  His  impis  began  pour- 
ing over  the  border,  and  the  infant  Colony  was  threatened  with 
extinction.  The  menace  was  met  by  a  heroic  response.  There 
were  only  a  handful  of  police  at  the  time  in  Mashonaland,  but 
the  settlers  were  men  who  could  defend  themselves. 

It  was  judged  best  to  meet  the  roving  assaults  by  a  direct 
counter  attack  on  Lobengula's  stronghold,  his  capital  of  Bula- 
wayo.  The  Chartered  Company's  funds  were  drained  out ;  but 
Rhodes,  as  ever,  rose  to  the  occasion,  and  raised  the  money  im- 
peratively needed  to  arm  and  conduct  the  little  force  that  was  to 
make  the  daring  venture  into  the  heart  of  the  most  savage  and 
warlike  province  in  South  Africa.  With  this  backing  Dr.  Jame- 
son raised  a  force  of  about  nine  hundred  men,  and,  placing  himself 
at  their  head,  as  Commander-in-chief,  marched  on  Bulawayo. 
Just  after  crossing  the  Shangani  River,  his  little  army  was  at- 
tacked by  the  Matabele  in  force,  but  beat  off  their  assailants. 
With  the  encouragement  of  this  success  the  English  pushed 
on  to  the  Imbesi. 

Here  they  were  attacked  again  in  the  old  Zulu  fashion  by 
desperate  charges  of  seven  thousand  frantic  blacks  in  rank  after 
rank  of  impis  upon  the  well-prepared  English  camp.  It  was 
a  fierce  fight,  but  the  issue  did  not  hang  long  in  doubt.  The 
Matabele  were  as  dashing  and  reckless  as  the  impis  that  had 
fallen  like  breakers  of  surf  on  the  laagers  of  the  Boers  during 
their  "  Great  Trek."  But  they  were  overmatched  by  the  cease- 
less belching  of  machine  guns  and  repeating  rifles,  mowing  them 
down  swath  by  swath  when  they  charged  within  close  range.  At 
last  they  broke  and  fled,  and  Dr.  Jameson's  little  army  marched 
on  to  Bulawayo,  which  was  entered  without  further  fighting,  for 
the  disheartened  Lobengula  abandoned  his  capital. 

The  British  pursued  him  hotly,  for  it  was  highly  important 
to  put  a  decisive  end  to  the  war  by  his  capture  before  the 
advance  of  the  rainy  season.  Unfortunately  this  pursuit  was 
too  daringly  pressed.  Major  Wilson,  with  a  little  force  of  less 
than  forty  mounted  men,  nearly  plucked  Lobengula  out  of  the 


AN   UPLIFTING    POWER 


5«7 


588      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


midst  of  his  retreating  impis.  His  impetuous  rush  reached  the 
cart  that  carried  the  king;  but  the  desperate  Matabele  flung 
themselves  upon  this  little  troop  in  such  masses  that  its  advance 
was  checked.  Messages  for  help  were  sent  to  the  main  troop 
in  pursuit,  under  Major  Forbes,  but  succor  was  cut  off  by  the 
rising  of  the  Shangani  River.  Flight  would  have  saved  most  of 
them,  but  Wilson  and  his  men  who  were  able  to  ride  off  scorned 
to  abandon  their  wounded  comrades.  So,  hard  pressed  by  the 
Matabele  on  all  sides,  they  made  a  barrier  of  their  horses,  living 

and  dead,  and 
held  their  ground 
until  their  last 
cartridge  was 
fired.  Then  they 
stood  up  defiantly 
and  fought  hand 
to  hand  until  the 
last  man  was  cut 
down  and  tram- 
pled under  foot 
in  the  crush  of 
the  savage  blacks. 
The  troop  under 
Major  Forbes  was 
forced  to  retreat, 
and  suffered  much  privation  before  it  was  met  by  a  relief  party 
headed  by  Rhodes,  who  rode  out  from  Bulawayo. 

The  loss  of  Major  Wilson  and  his  gallant  men  was  deeply 
mourned ;  but  the  campaign  as  a  whole  was  a  most  brilliant 
success.  Lobengula's  power  was  completely  broken,  his  impis 
scattered,  and  he  soon  afterward  died  a  fugitive.  The  royal 
city  of  Bulawayo  was  made  the  capital  of  Rhodesia,  the  province 
of  the  Chartered  Company,  and  Dr.  Jameson  took  his  seat  there 
as  Administrator.  The  rich  mineral  ground  near  Bulawayo  soon 
attracted  a  considerable  influx  and  made  a  rising  town,  which  in 
less  than  three  years  boasted  of  its  banks,  clubs,  newspapers, 


Major  Wilson's  Grave. 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER  589 

electric  lighting,  and  water-works.  The  brave  colonists  who 
made  up  the  force  of  "  Jameson's  Volunteers  "  were  disbanded, 
and  began  to  prospect  for  gold  and  pick  out  farms  in  the  new 
province. 

With  the  fall  of  Lobengula,  a  standing  menace  to  the  march 
of  settlement  was  removed,  and  the  attractions  of  Rhodesia 
began  to  come  out  in  a  brighter  light.  It  was  the  settled  pur- 
pose of  the  Chartered  Company,  from  the  outset,  to  do  every- 
thing that  was  feasible  to  encourage  investigation  and  the  taking 
up  of  farms  by  honest  and  thrifty  colonists.  This  was  regarded, 
by  Rhodes  at  least,  as  transcending  in  importance  even  the 
development  of  the  mineral  riches  of  the  country,  though  the 
latter  was  naturally  the  chief  object  with  most  investors.  Par- 
ticular pains  has  been  taken,  in  directing  the  colonization,  to 
harmonize  relations  between  the  men  of  different  races  and 
nations,  and  to  draw  as  closely  as  possible  all  together  in  a  com- 
mon bond  of  union  as  Africanders. 

Considerate  and  elevating  treatment  of  the  natives  has  also 
been  a  notable  feature  of  „ the  determination  and  policy  of  the 
Chartered  Company.  The  relief  of  Mashonaland  from  the 
ferocious  forays  of  the  Matabele  was  a  memorable  service 
which  will  be  credited  at  the  outset  to  this  company.  It  has 
further  given  to  all  within  its  jurisdiction  the  fullest  protection  of 
English  law,  and  safeguarded  all  working  in  service  from  abus- 
ive treatment  by  their  employes,  prohibiting  the  use  of  the  lash, 
and  enforcing  other  humane  regulations.  The  sale  of  liquor  to 
the  natives  is  forbidden  by  stringent  laws,  and  the  most  discred- 
itable and  demoralizing  influence  in  South  Africa  is  barred  out 
of  Rhodesia,  at  least. 

To  determine  the  extent  of  arable  and  pasture  lands,  deputa- 
tions of  experienced  farmers  were  appointed  to  inspect  and  report 
by  public  meetings  in  the  Cape  Colony  and  Orange  Free  State. 
Their  examination  of  less  than  half  the  area  of  Mashonaland  and 
Matabeleland  reached  the  conclusion  that  at  least  40,000  square 
miles  were  well  adapted  for  colonizing  purposes.  It  may  further 
be  noted  that  highly  favorable  reports  of  the  agricultural  and 


590      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 

mineral  resources  in  the  vast  territories  of  the  British  South 
Africa  Company,  north  of  the  Zambesi,  have  been  furnished  by 
Joseph  Thomson,  Alfred  Sharpe,  and  other  well-known  ex- 
plorers. Actual  experience  and  the  medical  officers'  reports  have 
shown  that  the  climate  is  not  unhealthy  for  any  white  man  who 
will  avoid  undue  exposure  and  observe  a  few  simple  precautions.1 


Victoria  Falls,  Zambesi  River. 

The  advance  of  immigration  and  development  has  been 
remarkable  in  view  of  existing  conditions.  There  were  inevitable 
hardships  and  discouragement  to  check  the  first  rush  of  gold 
seekers.  The  gold-fields  were  only  slightly  explored  and  lay  far 
from  any  base  of  supply.  There  was  lack  of  resources  and 
means  of  communication  to  develop  even  the  most  promising 

1  "  Minutes  of  Progress  in  Mashonaland,"  by  the  Secretary  of  the  British  South 
Africa  Company.  "The  Ruined  Cities  of  Mashonaland,"  pp.  405-412. 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


openings.  Yet,  in  spite  of  all  obstacles,  prospecting  has  been 
pushed  far  enough  to  show  the  range  of  gold-bearing  ground 
and  ledges  for  hundreds  of  miles.  Convincing  evidence  of  the 
mineral  richness  of  the  country  is  given  to  the  extent  of  the 
ancient  workings  that  have  been  traced  through  Mashonaland 
far  beyond  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Tanganyika.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  an  enormous  amount  of  gold  has  been  taken 


Victoria  Falls. 


from  this  region  both  by  placer  washing  and  quartz  mining. 
There  are  no  other  ancient  workings,  on  the  face  of  the  Old 
World  at  least,  of  like  extent,  and  this  undeniable  evidence 
weighs  heavily  for  the  contention  that  the  flow  of  gold  from  this 
source  was  the  main  supply,  for  centuries,  of  Arabia  and  Asia 
Minor.  In  view  of  the  superiority  of  modern  appliances  for 
mining  and  the  extraction  of  gold,  it  would  seem,  at  least, 
probable  that  the  yield  of  this  territory  may,  in  time,  be  large. 
There  are  apparently  well-verified  reports  also  of  the  dis- 


592       THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


covery  of  extensive  copper  and  iron  deposits  in  North  Rhodesia 
and  in  the  region  lying  along  the  western  shores  of  Lake  Tan- 
ganyika. The  missionaries  of  the  Roman  Catholic  society 


/     UKITlVlI    .pi 
/     CE.VrilAL  I  V.\ 

i    >«»?  Iw 

iiiuri     V; 

{        KULANTYfTE 


,,^>i4.  i»r»«o   ^VR* 

5^A^£r;s*$$         r 

--t.  Zv-voHh&B  in^Si^.  ..  n 


A  MAP 

TO   ILLUSTRATE 

THE  RHODESIA  RAILWAY  SYSTEM 

COMPLETED,   UNDER  CONSTRUCTION, 
AND  PROJECTED. 

1902 
SCALE  OF  MILES 


Riilwiji  completed         • 

"  under  conatructloa* 


known  as  the  White  Fathers  have  long  been  at  work  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Tanganyika,  and  a  report  of  their  explorations 
has  been  published  lately  in  Petermanns  Mitteilungen.  It  is 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


593 


noted  that  great  quantities  of  iron  ore  have  been  found  along  the 
banks  of  the  rivers  flowing  into  Tanganyika,  particularly  along 
the  Lufuko  and  Miobosi. 

The  wide-ranging  Marungu  district  is  said  also  to  be  exceed- 
ingly rich  in  copper  ores  ;  and  the  copper  areas,  better  withstand- 
ing denudation  than  the  surrounding  country,  are  reported  to 
stand  comparatively  high 
above  the  general  level  and 
to  be  easily  recognizable. 
Agents  of  the  Chartered  South 
Africa  Company  have  also 
reported  the  discovery  of  a 
rich  copper  field,  estimated 
to  cover  40  square  miles,  in 
north  Rhodesia.  This  field 
lies  about  150  miles  north  of 
Victoria  Falls,  near  the  Congo 
Free  State,  and  runs  over  the 
border.  De  Beers  Company 
has  already  taken  an  active 
part  in  the  development  of  the 
copper  mines  of  Namaqua- 
land,  and  the  new  field  may 
prove  to  be  of  even  greater 
importance. 

The  rapid  extension  of  the 
railway  lines  of  the  Bechuana- 
land  Railway  Company  from 
Vryburg  to  Bulawayo  was  mainly  due  to  the  aid  given  by  Mr. 
Rhodes  and  his  associates  in  the  Chartered  Company.  This 
line  reached  Bulawayo,  a  total  distance  of  1360.4  miles  from 
Cape  Town,  in  1897,  and  has  since  been  extended  northward 
about  30  miles.  The  war  has  interrupted  this  work  during  the 
past  two  and  a  half  years.  The  main  line  north,  it  is  expected, 
will  reach  the  enormous  coal  beds  at  Wankie,  200  miles  north 
of  Bulawayo,  in  about  eighteen  months,  and  will  be  pushed  on 


Victoria  Falls. 


594       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


AN    UPLIFTING   POWER  595 

to  the  Victoria  Falls  on  the  Zambesi  and  thence  north  as  rapidly 
as  possible  to  tap  the  rich  copper  districts. 

The  telegraph  line  running  ahead  of  the  railway  was  carried 
across  Rhodesia  and  reached  Lake  Tanganyika,  from  which  it  is 
fast  extending  to  Uganda,  so  that  Cape  Town  and  Cairo  will  soon 
be  in  direct  overland  telegraphic  communication.  The  inspira- 
tion of  this  work  of  the  Transcontinental  Telegraph  Company 
was  due  to  Rhodes,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  capital  needed  to 
extend  it  was  contributed  by  him  personally.  The  postal  ser- 
vice already  effected  is  as  remarkable  as  the  telegraph.  Even 
from  points  hundreds  of  miles  beyond  Bulawayo,  which,  eight 
years  ae;o,  was  the  heart  of  savage  Matabeleland,  the  pioneer  can 
send  a  letter  home  to  England  for  twopence  halfpenny,  and  the 
settler  on  the  remote  shores  of  Lake  Moero  can  get  by  mail  a 
pound  package  of  tea  from  Liverpool  at  the  cost  of  a  shilling. 

Already  the  Chartered  Company  has  carried  the  work  of 
exploration  and  expanding  control  to  Lakes  Tanganyika,  Moero, 
and  Nyassa,  and  made  treaties  with  the  native  chiefs  north  of 
Rhodesia,  as  well  as  with  Lewanika,  king  of  the  Barotse,  to  the 
west.  The  range  of  British  influence  and  civilizing  advance 
now  reaches  to  the  heart  of  Africa  from  the  south,  embracing  all 
the  country  not  within  German  control  in  the  west,  and  the  Portu- 
guese domain  in  the  east.  The  grand  aim  of  Rhodes  has  been 
swiftly  advanced  in  realization  even  beyond  sanguine  expectation. 

Another  undertaking,  less  far-reaching  and  impressive  in  scope, 
but  of  evident  material  importance  to  the  development  of  the  in- 
dustrial resources  of  South  Africa,  was  liberally  and  energetically 
supported  and  advanced  by  De  Beers  Mines.  The  cost  of  import- 
ing coal  was  from  the  outset,  and  still  continues  to  be,  a  crippling 
handicap  upon  the  advance  of  the  mining  and  manufacturing  in- 
dustries of  the  South  African  Colonies.  Persistent  searches  for 
coal  deposits  throughout  the  country  were  made,  but  no  coal 
seams  of  high  quality  were  uncovered.  The  best  apparent  pros- 
pect for  opening  deposits  that  might  compete  in  the  market  with 
imported  coals  was  shown  in  the  Stormberg  and  neighboring  hilly 
districts  lying  between  Queenstown  and  the  Orange  River. 


596      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Summer  House  at  Groote  Schuur. 


Progressive  colonists  developed  the  outcrops  in  the  Storm- 
berg  district,  and  in  the  face  of  grave  discouragements  opened 
seams  of  importance  in  the  Molteno  and  Cyphergat  mines,  but 
it  was  impracticable  to  work  these  mines  with  any  prospect  of 
profit  until  railway  communication  was  opened  from  Stormberg 
Junction  via  Steynsburg  to  Middelburg,  connecting  the  East 
London  and  the  Midland  or  Port  Elizabeth  lines.  The  possi- 
bility of  supply  from  this  district  was  immediately  grasped  by 
De  Beers  Company,  both  for  the  sake  of  an  eventual  saving  in 
the  cost  of  its  fuel,  and  the  public-spirited  object  of  cooperating, 
so  far  as  was  feasible,  in  the  development  of  a  resource  of  such 
importance  to  the  colonies. 

The  Stormberg  coal  was  so  mixed  with  shale  that  even  the 
shipping  coal  after  sorting  held  about  one-third  waste,  which 
clogged  the  furnaces.  But  special  grates  were  designed  to  burn 
this  coal,  and  by  this  resort  it  was  practicable  to  use  a  supply 
from  this  field  at  the  diamond  mines.  De  Beers  Company  was 
soon  taking  by  contract  practically  the  entire  product  of  the  Storm- 
berg seams  at  a  price  of  about  2OJ.  per  ton  at  the  shipping  point. 

Not  long  after  the  opening  of  the  Stormberg  mines,  coal 
seams  of  much  greater  width  and  promise  were  discovered  at 
Indwe,  a  point  about  seventy  miles  east  from  Molteno  and 
Cyphergat.  Here  the  prospective  returns  from  energetic  devel- 


AN    UPLIFTING   POWER 


597 


opment  were  really  very  bright,  but,  to  market  the  coal,  the  con- 
struction of  an  expensive  railway  line  from  Indwe  to  the  East 
London  or  Eastern  systems  was  indispensable.  In  spite  of  the 
unwearied  and  cogent  representations  of  Colonel  Schermbrucker 
and  his  associates  in  control  of  the  Indwe  field,  the  Cape  Gov- 
ernment was  reluctant  to  defray  the  cost  of  building  this  line. 
The  scheme  was  a  dragging  one  for  years,  until  De  Beers  Com- 
pany came  forward 
with  a  subscription 
of  ^£7 5,000  to  the 
shares  of  the  Indwe 
Railway  Collieries 
and  Land  Company, 
organized  to  extend 
the  necessary  railway 
lines  and  operate  the 
mines. 

In  view  of  this 
essential  backing  of 
capital,  coupled  with 
the  cogent  appeals  of 
Rhodes  and  his  as- 
sociates, the  Cape 
Government  was 
moved  to  contribute 
a  grant  of  ^£50,000 
toward  the  expense 
of  construction,  with 
an  additional  allow- 
ance of  50,000  acres  of  land,  worth  about  one  pound  an  acre. 
Then  a  line  of  sixty-six  miles  was  laid  at  half  the  rate  per  mile  that 
was  paid  for  building  the  lines  under  Government  Administration, 
and  the  mines  were  opened  very  successfully.  It  was  supposed 
by  the  projectors  of  the  scheme  at  the  outset  that  the  main  busi- 
ness of  the  company  would  be  the  supply  of  coal  for  steamship 
use  at  East  London ;  but  it  was  soon  demonstrated,  upon  the  com- 


'  Stoep,"  Groote  Schuur. 


598      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

pletion  of  the  railway,  that  De  Beers  Company  was  the  principal 
customer,  consuming  about  5500  tons  of  the  average  monthly 
production  of  12,000  tons.  This  coal  supply  was  delivered  to 
De  Beers  by  agreement  for  i$s.  per  ton  at  Sterkstroom,  the 
point  of  junction  of  the  Indwe  and  Eastern  system  lines.  In 
spite  of  the  inferior  quality  of  the  coal,  compared  with  Welsh 
coal,  the  South  African  coal  at  this  price  was  a  good  bargain  for 
De  Beers,  and  the  very  profitable  record  of  the  Indwe  Company 
proves  that  the  interests  of  its  shareholders  were  not  sacrificed  in 
making  the  bargain.  The  mines  of  the  Stormberg  district  are 
still  continuous  producers,  and  supply  about  1000  tons  monthly 
to  the  mines  at  Kimberley  not  under  control  of  De  Beers 
Company. 

Coal  mining  in  the  Orange  Free  State  has  not  been  carried 
on  very  energetically  on  account  of  the  distance  of  the  coal  meas- 
ures from  the  existing  railways.  But  the  developments  in  this 
field  are  already  promising,  and  the  Kroonstad  Coal  Company, 
in  particular,  has  opened  up  a  bed  of  very  good  coal.  A  rail- 
way is  in  course  of  construction  from  the  main  Free  State  line 
to  the  Kroonstad  coal  fields.  When  this  line  is  completed  these 
mines  will  be  in  a  position  to  compete  with  any  others,  and  if 
the  long-promised  line  is  constructed  from  Branford  or  Bloem- 
fontein  to  Kimberley,  Kroonstad  coal  can  be  delivered  at  the 
diamond  mines  cheaper  than  any  other  coal  yet  discovered. 
Beyond  these  undertakings  is  the  opening  of  the  promising  coal 
mines  in  Natal  to  which  De  Beers  Company  has  liberally  con- 
tributed. (See  Appendix  IV.) 

Other  enterprises,  too,  of  public  service  are  worthy  of 
mention.  De  Beers  Company  is  steadily  furthering  fruit  and 
stock  farming,  and  has  constructed  storage  buildings  in  various 
locations  in  order  to  prevent  a  monopoly  of  the  meat  supply 
which  was  threatening  South  Africa.  It  is  constructing,  also, 
one  of  the  largest  dynamite  factories  in  the  world,  near  Cape 
Town,  under  the  able  superintendence  of  Mr.  W.  R.  Quinan. 

Of  course  Rhodes  could  not  foresee  the  marching  steps  of 
this  progress  in  varied  lines,  but  it  is  none  the  less  certain  that 


AN    UPLIFTING    POWER 


599 


the  expansion  of  the  undertakings  of  De  Beers  Consolidated 
Mines  was  the  carrying  out  of  his  long-cherished  aims.  It  was 
for  this  chiefly  that  De  Beers  Charter  was  drawn  with  so  free  a 
hand.  Assured  control  of  the  great  South  African  diamond 
mines  was  the  assurance  of  great  wealth,  —  from  Rhodes's  point 
of  view,  great  power  that  should  be  greatly  used.  His  aims 
ranged  far  beyond 
any  personal  ex- 
alting. His  heart 
was  set  on  the 
making  of  Greater 
Britain  by  expan- 
sion and  loyal 
federal  union.  In 
the  Dark  Conti- 
nent, beyond  the 
confines  of  civili- 
zation, he  saw  the 
open  field  for  Brit- 
ish occupation  and 
development,  and 
was  unresting  till 
it  was  grasped. 
How  great  this  at- 
tainment was  in 
actual  stretch  of 
territory  may  best 
be  comprehended, 
as  the  London  Times  notes,  "by  any  one  who  will  take  the 
trouble  to  contrast  the  map  of  Africa  as  it  appeared  in  1881, 
when  Mr.  Rhodes  first  entered  public  life,  with  that  which  is 
open  to  his  study  to-day.  At  the  earlier  date,  the  line  of  the 
28th  degree  of  south  latitude  bounded  our  possessions  in  South 
Africa ;  the  later  map  he  will  find  coloured  red  right  up  to  the 
shores  of  Lake  Tanganyika  —  within  a  few  degrees  of  the 
Equator." 


A  Corner  in  Mr.  Rhodes's  Library. 


6oo      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

That  this  annexation  has  been,  and  will  be,  greatly  to  the 
advantage  of  the  territory  and  its  occupants  will  not  be  seriously 
questioned.  Its  material  advance  and  the  security  to  life  and 
property  stand  already  in  bright  contrast  to  its  barbaric  state 
—  a  land  which  knew  only  the  rudest  tillage  and  was  ravaged  at 
the  whim  of  savage  chiefs.  It  is  too  early  yet  to  think  of  meas- 
uring its  resources  and  probable  advances,  but  enough  is  known 
to  warrant  high  confidence  in  its  future,  with  the  assurance  of 
alert  grasp  of  its  openings  for  immigration  and  capital. 


Another  View  of  Mr.  Rhodes's  Library. 

To  any  eye  the  gaining  of  Rhodesia  was  a  long  step  forward 
toward  the  attainment  of  Rhodes's  hope  of  carrying  British 
dominion  from  the  Cape  to  Cairo.  But  the  ordinary  observer 
would  not  mark,  as  intently  as  Rhodes  did,  the  force  of  this 
acquisition  in  determining  the  control  of  South  Africa.  Seven- 
teen years  ago,  in  addressing  his  constituents,  at  Barkly  West, 
he  declared  publicly,  as  a  settled  conviction:  "I  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  key  to  the  (South  African)  puzzle  lay  in  the 
possession  of  the  Interior,  at  that  time  an  unknown  quantity. 
In  a  humble  way  I  have  been  mixed  up  with  the  politics  of  the 


AN    UPLIFTING   POWER  60 1 

Interior  during  the  last  four  years,  and  such  politics,  I  contend, 
will  be  in  future  most  intimately  connected  with  the  settlement 
of  the  South  African  Question,  for  I  believe  that  whatever  State 
possesses  Bechuanaland  and  Matabeleland  will  ultimately  possess 
South  Africa."  It  was  his  view,  asserted  in  repeated  conversa- 
tions with  Mr.  Edward  Dicey,  that  the  taking  of  Rhodesia 
necessitated  the  creation  of  a  predominant  South  African  Con- 
federacy, which  would  be  brought  to  pass  by  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstance. In  the  interest  of  South  Africa  and  Great  Britain 
Rhodes  sought  the  inclusion  of  this  Confederacy  in  the  British 
Empire. 

It  is  plainly  to  be  seen  that  Rhodes's  view  of  the  interests 
of  South  Africa  and  the  drift  of  his  anticipated  confederation 
were  inevitably  antagonistic  to  the  attitude  and  policy  of  the 
men  controlling  the  South  African  Republic.  In  stretching 
the  arm  of  Great  Britain  over  Mashonaland  and  Rhodesia, 
Rhodes  unquestionably  blocked  the  extension  of  the  Transvaal 
State  and  the  schemes  of  Kriiger.  In  this  brief  marking  of 
progress  and  attainment  I  would  not  attempt  any  measuring  of 
responsibility  for  the  collision  that  finally  resulted  in  the  war 
just  closed.  South  Africa  is  now  completely  under  British  Im- 
perial control.  Whatever  view  may  be  taken  of  the  conflict, 
its  practical  outcome  plainly  clears  the  way  for  the  systematic 
development  of  this  vast  territory  under  liberal  colonial  insti- 
tutions. 

Cecil  John  Rhodes  did  not  live  to  see  the  ending  of  the 
contest  so  long  maintained  by  the  unyielding  temper  of  the 
Boers.  He  died  on  March  26,  1902,  near  Cape  Town,  of 
the  disease  of  the  heart  which  had  long  clouded  his  hope  of 
life. 

His  visionary  political  projects  ran  far  beyond  any  exact 
defining  or  determination  of  method,  but,  in  the  main,  "  the 
lay  of  his  ideas,"  to  use  his  own  phrasing,  is  clear.  He  would 
urge  the  union  of  all  English-speaking  people  to  dominate  the 
world,  transform  barbarism  to  civilization,  do  away  with  poor 
and  hampering  government,  maintain  enduring  peace,  and  pro- 


602      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

mote  universal  progress.  His  last  will  and  testament  has  proven 
that  the  advance  of  this  union  was  at  the  core  of  his  heart.  The 
image  of  his  fancy  may  never  come  into  being,  but  he  has,  at 
least,  done  something  for  an  uplifting  union  in  the  gathering  of 
young  scholars,  representing  all  English-speaking  people,  in  the 
ancient  mother  university,  to  recall  their  common  inheritance 
and  join  their  hands. 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX    I 

THE    MINES    BESIEGED 

THE  siege  of  Kimberley  was  one  of  the  striking  episodes  of  the  late 
war.  As  an  interruption  to  the  peaceful  progress  of  diamond  mining  in 
the  South  African  Fields,  it  has  a  place  apart  from  the  industrial  story. 
Yet  no  history  of  the  Diamond  Fields  would  be  complete  without  some 


A  Boer  Commando. 

account  of  its  course,  and  my  personal  view  may  be  of  interest  in  the 
possible  emphasis  of  the  part  taken  by  De  Beers  in  the  maintenance  of 
the  defence.  I  would  mark,  too,  precisely  how  the  war  affected  the  work- 
ing of  the  mines,  and  tell  from  my  own  observation  how  the  call  to  arms 
made  soldiers  of  men  accustomed  to  the  use  of  drill,  pick,  and  shovel,  and 
caused  our  mechanics  to  turn  their  hands  to  the  making  of  ordnance. 

605 


606      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


For  some  time  previous 
to  the  actual  outbreak  of 
the  war  (October  1 1, 
1899),  it  was  apparent  to 
us  who  were  living  upon 
the  border  of  the  Orange 
Free  State  that  both  the 
South  African  Republic  and 
the  Orange  Free  State  were 
making  preparations  for 
war  with  England,  and  that 
the  invasion  of  the  Cape 
Colony  was  but  a  matter 
of  a  short  time.  These 
preparations  had  been  going 

Lieut.  Col.  Kekewich  and  Staff  of  Imperial  Officers.  Qn  for  many  years   until  the 

magazines  and  arsenals  of  the  Transvaal  were  filled  with  the  finest 
munitions  of  war  that  the  works  of  Schneider  at  Creusot  or  of  Krupp 
at  Essen  could  produce.  The  Mauser  with  which  the  Boers  were  armed 
was  as  good  as  the  small  arms  of  any 
Continental  power,  and  better  than 
the  Lee-Metford  which  the  British 
brought  against  them. 

In  July,  1899,  Major  Scott-Tur- 
ner came  to  Kimberley,.  and  Lieu- 
tenant Mclnnes,  Royal  Engineers, 
followed  him  shortly  after.  Colonel 
Trotter,  R.  A.,  Chief  Staff  Officer, 
also  came  to  stay  a  short  time.  He 
had  made  a  report  on  the  defences 
of  Kimberley  as  early  as  1896,  and 
an  accurate  military  map  had  been 
prepared  of  the  town  and  surround- 
ings. Major  O'Meara  came  later  as 
Intelligence  Officer.  The  Imperial 
Government  sent  these  officers  to 


Lieut.  Col.  Robert  George  Kekewich,  Com- 
mandant of  Kimberley  during  the  Siege. 


prepare  for  the  defence  of  Kimberley,  and  on  the  I3th  of  September, 
shortly  before  the  war  was  declared,  there  arrived  a  half  regiment  of  the 
Loyal  North  Lancashires  (infantry),  and  a  battery  of  Royal  Artillery, 


APPENDIX    1 


607 


consisting  of  six  muzzle-loading  seven-pounders  of  obsolete  pattern,  and 
some  Maxims. 

On  the  30th  of  September  the  Governor  of  the  Cape  Colony  gave 
his  consent  to  the  formation  of  a  Town  Guard,  "  solely  for  local  defence 
in  case  of  attack  from  without."  The  radius  of  the  circle  in  which  the 
Town  Guard  must  confine  their  operations  was  eight  miles,  with  the 
market  square  as  the  centre.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Robert  George 
Kekewich  was  appointed  commandant.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Harris, 
V.  D.,  a  director  of  De  Beers,  was  second  in  command  and  was  placed 
in  charge  of  the  Town  Guard.  Major  Peakman,  an  officer  of  the  local 


Fort  on  Tailings  Heap,  Kimberley  Mine  Floors. 

volunteer  force,  who  had  had  a  considerable  amount  of  experience  in  the 
Kafir  wars,  was  appointed  Staff  Officer.  On  the  4th  of  October  the 
local  volunteers,  five  hundred  strong,  were  called  out  by  the  Governor, 
and  went  into  camp. 

On  the  5th  of  October  the  first  serious  disturbance  of  the  work  at 
the  mines  occurred.  An  alarm  was  sounded  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing of  that  day,  and  all  the  forces  in  town,  including  the  men  working  in 
the  mines,  were  called  out  to  do  military  duty,  as  it  was  rumored  that 
an  attack  was  contemplated  by  the  Boers,  who  were  massing  commandoes 
in  the  Orange  Free  State,  only  a  few  miles  distant.  It  had  been  arranged 
that  the  whistles  (sirens),  commonly  called  "  hooters,"  at  the  various  engine 


608       THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

houses  of  De  Beers  Company,  should  be  blown  in  case  an  alarm  had  to 
be  given.  The  first  alarm  caused  great  consternation  throughout  the 
whole  town.  Men  were  running,  helter-skelter,  in  the  dark,  seeking 
their  various  redoubts,  the  moving  guns  and  ammunition  wagons  rattled 
through  the  streets,  and  the  gardens  of  the  houses  were  filled  with  men, 
women,  and  children,  anxiously  awaiting  some  news  as  to  the  cause  of  the 
alarm.  The  screeching  of  the  hooters  was  appalling.  These  sirens, 
which  in  times  of  peace  could  "  blow  the  boilers  dry  "  and  not  disturb 
the  quiet  morning  slumbers  of  the  dwellers  of  the  Diamond  City,  had, 
all  in  a  moment,  become  a  nerve-shattering  mechanism.  In  later  days 
the  roar  of  the  Boer  artillery  and  the  bursting  of  shell  all  over  the  town 
did  not  so  frighten  the  mass  of  people.  The  horrifying  effect  was  so  last- 
ing, that  when  work  at  the  mines  was  resumed  after  the  siege,  many  people 


One  of  the  many  Redoubts,  looking  East. 

in  the  town  asked  me  to  discontinue  the  use  of  the  hooters,  and,  in  compli- 
ance with'  their  wishes,  the  old  whistles  were  for  a  time  put  into  service. 

Kimberley,  as  may  be  imagined,  was  quite  unprepared  for  an  attack  on 
the  5th  of  October,  as  war  had  not  been  declared.  The  Intelligence  De- 
partment had  received  some  false  reports,  and  those  in  charge  thought  it  best 
to  have  every  man  at  his  post ;  hence  the  alarm.  The  proven  falsity  of 
the  reports  did  not,  however,  dispel  the  menace  of  the  situation,  and  it 
was  considered  necessary  to  make  better  preparations  for  the  defence  of 
the  town.  Our  miners  were  called  out  to  drill  during  a  part  of  each 
day.  Our  tailing  heaps,  which  formed  natural  defensive  positions, 
were  taken  possession  of  by  the  military.  Strong  forts  and  redoubts  were 
constructed  on  the  tops  of  these  heaps,  and  mines  of  dynamite  were 
laid  at  their  bases. 

Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  writing  in  the  Daily  Telegraph,  said:  "There  is 
something  singularly  picturesque  and  suggestive  in  the  thought  of  the 
Diamond  City  of  South  Africa  being  defended  by  her  own  waste  heaps. 


APPENDIX   I 


609 


View  from  the  Conning  Tower,  looking  Northeast. 


Z  R 


610      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA 

Since  Syracuse  was  fortified  against  Nicias  with  the  columns  of  her  own 
white  marble  temples,  and  the  breaches  of  Badajoz  were  filled  up  with 
the  empty  wine  casks,  there  has  been  no  such  curious  use  made  of  local 


The  \VuU-r\\  urks  Company's  Reservoir  as  a  Fort. 

material.  Strange,  indeed,  is  the  destiny  of  matter.  It  may  turn  out 
that  the  blue  clay  will  prove  more  valuable  to  Mr.  Rhodes,  to  the  isolated 
garrison,  and  to  the  little  city,  than  all  the  diamonds  she  ever  dug  up." 


Fort  Rhodes,  on  Top  of  No.  2  Tailings  Heap,  De  Beers  Floors. 

Other  defensive  fortifications  were  made  upon  the  ground  lying 
between  the  tailing  heaps.  The  labor  necessary  to  do  this  work  was 
drawn  from  the  mines  and  works.  Nearly  all  the  men  working  in  and 
about  the  mines  joined  the  various  military  organizations,  and  slept  in  the 


APPENDIX    I 


611 


forts  and  redoubts.     Owing  to  this  distraction,  work  at  the  mines  pro- 
ceeded very  slowly. 

Rhodes,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Smartt,  member  of  the  Legislative  As- 
sembly, arrived  in  Kimberley  a  few  days  before  the  investment.      He  took 


No.  2  Redoubt,  near  Kimberley  Mine. 

up  his  residence  at  the  Sanatorium.  Mr.  and  Hon.  Mrs.  Maguire 
arrived  a  day  or  two  later  and  were  his  guests  during  the  siege.  Upon 
his  arrival  at  Kimberley,  Rhodes  realized  at  once  the  gravity  of  the  situa- 
tion, both  as  regards  the  defence  of  the  town  and  the  food  supply.  Orders 
for  large  quantities  of  provisions  were  wired  to  Cape  Town,  Port  Eliza- 


A  Barrier  on  the  Road  leading  to  Kenilworth. 


beth  and  East  London,  with  the  hope  that  we  might  be  able  to  add  to  the 
seemingly  large  stock  already  on  hand  —  but  these  supplies  never  arrived. 
The  siege  of  Kimberley  commenced  on  the  night  of  the  I4th  of  Octo- 
ber, a  little  before  ten  o'clock,  when  the  wires  to  the  south  were  cut,  the 


612      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


The  Sanr.torium  in  Time  of  Peace. 


The  Sanatorium  during  the  Siege, 


APPENDIX   I 


613 


wires  to  the  north  having  been  cut  about  an  hour  before.  The  last  train 
from  the  south  arrived  at  Kimberley  about  1 1  P.M.,  bringing  several 
truck-loads  of  supplies  which  were  at  Modder  River  Station,  destined  for 
the  Free  State  Boers. 

Colonel  Kekewich  at  once  issued  a  proclamation,  declaring  the 
district  in  a  state  of  siege.  The  war  had  actually  begun.  The  various 
fortifications  were  made  stronger,  military  organizations  were  increased 
in  numbers,  a  mounted  force  of  four  companies,  known  as  the  Kimberley 
Light  Horse,  was  formed,  and  on  all  sides  there  was  the  greatest  activity 


Mounted  Camp,  Kimberley. 

in  making  Kimberley  a  strongly  garrisoned  town.  When  all  the  military 
organizations  were  completed,  the  forces  at  the  disposal  of  Colonel 
Kekewich  were  as  follows  :  — 

The  Imperial  Garrison  consisted  of  the  23d  Company  of  Royal 
Artillery,  one  section  of  the  yth  Field  Company  Royal  Engineers,  and 
four  companies  of  the  1st  Royal  North  Lancashire  Regiment.  There 
was  also  a  small  detachment  of  the  Army  Service  Corps.  The  total 
strength  of  the  regulars  was  about  600  officers  and  men.  Volunteer 
companies  had  been  enrolled  from  the  early  days  of  the  Fields, 
and  at  one  time  comprised  a  very  considerable  force  of  men,  but  of  late 
years  the  community  had  lost  nearly  all  interest  in  the  volunteer  service. 


614      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

Still  the  organizations  had  been  kept  up,  and  when  the  muster  roll  was 
taken,  shortly  before  the  siege,  it  showed  the  following  numbers  :  One 
battery,  Diamond  Fields  Artillery,  consisting  of  six  seven-pounder  muzzle- 
loading  guns,  with  3  officers  and  90  men,  in  charge  of  Captain  May;  the 
Kimberley  Regiment  (infantry),  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Finlayson,  with 
14  officers  and  285  men;  the  Diamond  Fields  Horse,  Major  Rodger,  6 
officers  and  142  men.  The  total  force  of  regulars  and  volunteers  was 
about  1 100. 

The  Town  Guard  was  organized,  and  the  men  were  drilled  in  the 
use  of  the  Lee-Metford  rifle.  At  the  beginning  of  the  siege  this  force 
numbered  about  1200  men,  but  both  the  volunteer  corps  and  the  Town 


Camp  of  the  Royal  North  Lancashires. 

Guard  were  soon  increased  until  the  total  strength  of  the  garrison 
reached  4500  men.  This  included  the  Cape  Mounted  Police,  number- 
ing about  360  officers  and  men,  and  unmounted  police  to  the  number 
of  175.  The  limit  of  the  defence  force  was  gauged  by  the  number  of 
rifles  in  Kimberley  —  which  had  been  considerably  increased  during  the 
previous  year  by  the  importation  by  local  merchants  of  1000  rifles  and 
six  Maxims,  together  with  a  considerable  amount  of  ammunition  for  the 
use  of  the  rifle  clubs. 

Our  forts  and  redoubts  were  in  many  ways  unique  and  picturesque. 
The  waterworks  reservoir  was  surrounded  by  a  huge  fortification,  made 
of  grain  and  coal  sacks  filled  with  soil.  The  forts  on  the  tailing  heaps 
were  made  with  rows  of  the  trays  of  trucks  which  in  times  of  peace 


APPENDIX    I 


615 


convey  the  diamond-bearing  ground  to  the  floors.  The  trays  were  filled 
with  tailings,  banked  up  on  the  outside  with  the  same  material,  and 
coped  with  sand  bags.  Large  shelters  were  made  within  the  forts  for 


Officers  of  the  Diamond  Fields  Horse. 


the  protection  of  the  garrisons.  As  tents  were  not  to  be  obtained, 
spacious  houses  with  roofs  of  corrugated  iron  and  sides  of  canvas  were 
constructed  as  sleeping  and  eating  rooms,  and  for  protection  against  the 
tropical  sun  and  violent  thunderstorms.  When  the  supply  of  corrugated 


The  Diamond  Fields  Horse  at  Kenilworth,  during  Siege  of  Kimberley. 

iron  gave  out  in  town,  for  even  the  enormous  stock  of  De  Beers  did  not 
prove  equal  to  the  demand,  the  iron  fence  which  surrounded  the  race- 
course was  taken  down  and  carted  to  the  various  fortifications. 


616       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


A  Group  of  the  Town  Guard. 

Barriers  were  constructed  around  Kimberley  to  check  any  sudden 
attack  upon  the  town.  The  roads  leading  from  the  town  were  strongly 
guarded  and  barricaded  with  barbed-wire  entanglements,  with  mining 
trucks  filled  with  earth,  and  with  camelthorn  trees.  Of  late  years  the 
outskirts  of  Kimberley  had  begun  to  assume  quite  a  parklike  appearance, 
by  the  growth  of  young  trees  from  the  roots  and  stumps  of  those  that 
had  been  cut  down  during  the  early  days  of  the  Fields.  It  seemed  a 
pity  that  the  little  natural  beauty  which  these  afforded  should  be  destroyed; 
but  the  preservation  of  the  town  was  of  first  importance,  and  all  the  trees 
were  cut  down  and  dragged  into  long  lines  of  fences,  where  they  were 
interlaced  with  barbed  wire,  making  most  formidable  barriers.  When 


Defence  Guns  and  Maxims  massed  in  the  Gardens, 


APPENDIX   I 


617 


the  siege  was  over,  these  fences  disappeared,  almost  in  a  day,  to  supply  the 
inhabitants  with  firewood,  which  had  been  cut  down  to  the  scantiest 
allowance,  —  a  week's  supply  being  barely  sufficient  to  do  a  day's  cook- 
ing. The  defences  were  in  places  supplemented  with  dynamite  mines 
planned  by  the  Royal  Engineers,  and  carried  out  by  the  electrical  depart- 
ment of  De  Beers.  On  one  occasion  the  officer  in  charge  gave  instruc- 
tions to  put  down  ten  pounds  of  dynamite  every  thirty  feet,  and  returning 


Headquarters  Staff,  Cape  Mounted  Police. 

later  in  the  day  he  asked  if  his  instructions  had  been  carried  out,  and 
received  the  reply,  "Yes,  sir,  we  have  put  down  thirty  pounds  of  dynamite 
every  ten  feet." 

Premier  Mine 

Premier  mine  occupied  a  unique  position  during  the  siege.  It  was 
isolated  from  Kimberley  and  Beaconsfield,  the  former  town  being  about 
four  miles,  and  the  latter  two  miles,  distant.  There  is  a  large,  disused 
tailing  heap  near  the  mine,  on  the  top  of  which  is  a  small  reservoir,  into 
which  water  from  the  mine  is  pumped  for  distribution  to  the  washing 
plant  and  floors.  Around  this  reservoir  a  fort  was  built  and  made  almost 
impregnable.  Large  shell-proofs  were  made  for  storing  supplies  and 


618      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 


ammunition  for  a  local  siege,  should  communication  with  the  Kimberley 
and  Beaconsfield  defences  be  cut  off.  One  of  the  three  searchlights 
which  De  Beers  Company  uses  on  their  "floor"  for  preventing  theft 
of  diamonds  by  night  was  placed  at  this  fort.  The  Boers  called  these 


Kimberley  Waterworks  Reservoir,  with  Royal  Artillery. 

searchlights  "Rhodes'   eyes."     About    150   of   De  Beers  employes  and 

one  hundred  regulars,  with  two  seven-pound  guns  and  a  Maxim,  were 

constantly  on  duty  at  this  fort. 

The  pumping  plant  which  supplied  Kimberley  was  down  in  the  open 

mine.  This  plant,  as  well  as  all  the  machinery  of  the  mine,  was  pro- 
tected with  sand 
bags.  In  heaps 
about  the  mine,  and 
in  all  the  buildings 
on  the  side  of  the 
mine  adjoining  the 
Free  State,  mines 
were  laid,  with  wires 
leading  from  them 
to  the  fort.  One 
of  the  powerful  elec- 


Premier  Mine  Fort,  Royal  Artillery  in  Action. 


trie  searchlights  was  placed  in  the  fort,  and  so  arranged  that  it  could  be 
lowered  out  of  harm's  way  during  the  daytime.  Connections  were  made 
between  the  two  sets  of  boilers  and  the  pumping  and  electric  light  plants, 
so  that,  in  case  a  shell  damaged  one  set,  the  other  could  be  used.  A  large 


APPENDIX   I 


619 


number  of  hand  grenades  filled  with 
dynamite,  with  fuses  and  detonators 
fixed,  were  made  and  kept  in  the 
magazine.  An  underground  hospital 
for  the  wounded  was  constructed. 
In  fact,  everything  necessary  was 
done  to  make  this  fort  independent 
and  secure.  There  was  apparent 
need  for  these  precautions,  for  the 
Boers  constructed  the  most  formi- 
dable fort  of  any  about  Kimberley 
on  a  low  range  of  hills  about  three 
miles  distant,  where  they  kept  two 
guns  and  a  pom-pom,  which  they 
fired  nearly  every  day  during  the 
siege,  except  Sundays. 

Great  credit  is  due  to  the  man-  Premier  Mlne  Searchlight- 

ager  of  the  mine,  Mr.  J.  M.  Jones,  and  to  Captain  O'Brien,  who  was 
in  charge  of  the  garrison,  for  the  manner  in  which  the  defences  were 
constructed,  and  to  all  who  occupied  the  fort  during  the  long,  weary  four 


Canvas  House  erected  for  Protection  from  the  Sun  and  Thunderstorms. 

months,  for  their  courage  and  patience.      On  several  occasions  lightning 
struck  the  wires  connecting  the  mines  and  exploded  them.     One  explo- 


620       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

sion  carried  away  part  of  the  mine  compound,  and  another  wrecked  the 
end  of  the  large  stables.  Fortunately  no  harm  came  to  any  of  the  gar- 
rison or  to  any  of  the  machinery  of  the  mine.  Although  it  was  isolated 
from  Kimberley,  the  Boers  never  made  an  attack  upon  it  nor  came  within 
rifle  range. 

A  few  days  after  the  commencement  of  hostilities  the  Boers  took  pos- 
session of  the  Kimberley  Waterworks  Company's  plant  on  the  Vaal 
River,  some  sixteen  miles  distant,  and  cut  off  the  water-supply.  Con- 
nections were  made  between  Premier  mine  pumping  system  and  the 
Kimberley  Waterworks  Company's  reservoir,  and  a  supply  of  eight  to 


Railway  Bridge  over  the  Vaal  River  at  Fourteen  Streams,  destroyed  by  the  Boers. 

ten  million  gallons  of  water  per  month  was  delivered  by  De  Beers,  free 
of  cost  to  that  Company,  on  the  understanding  that  only  half  rates 
should  be  charged  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town.  The  water  was  per- 
fectly clear,  pure,  and  wholesome. 

As  the  supplies  of  food  in  hand  seemed  ample  for  any  emergency 
that  was  thought  possible,  there  were  practically  no  restrictions  upon 
the  consumption  of  supplies  during  the  early  part  of  the  siege,  except 
that  the  amount  of  meat  was  fixed  at  one  pound  per  diem  for  each  adult, 
and  one-quarter  of  a  pound  for  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age.  As 
there  were  no  restrictions  as  to  prices,  the  speculating  part  of  the  com- 
munity soon  took  advantage  of  the  situation.  Few  had  laid  in  stocks 
of  food,  and,  as  the  greater  number  of  people  had  not  the  means  of  mak- 
ing large  purchases,  they  saw  starvation  staring  them  in  the  face.  It 


APPENDIX    I 


621 


Boer  Laager,  near  Kimbedey. 

was  impossible  for  many  even  to  purchase  their  daily  requirements  at 
the  fabulous  prices  to  which  the  necessaries  of  life  suddenly  rose.  Par- 
affin, which  usually  sold  for  15  shillings  a  case,  jumped  to  100  shillings. 
Naturally  the  community  rebelled  against  this  extortion,  and  the  daily  news- 
paper was  full  of  complaints.  As  some  of  them  put  it,  they  had  taken 
up  arms  to  defend  the  very  people  who  were  starving  their  families  by 
putting  the  prices  for  the  necessaries  of  life  beyond  their  means.  Colonel 
Kekewich  was  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  wisely  issued  a  proclamation 
fixing  the  price  of  all  supplies  at  the  same  figures  as  formerly  existed. 

For  the  support  of  people  too  poor  to  pay  even  for  the  barest  neces- 
saries of  life,  thoughtful  provision 
was  made  by  Rhodes  in  the  institu- 
tion of  a  soup  kitchen  in  De  Beers 
convict  station.  The  details  of  the 
work  were  ably  carried  out  under 
Captain  Tyson,  Dr.  Smartt,  and  the 
Hon.  Mrs.  Maguire,  the  latter  at- 
tending to  the  distribution  at  Bea- 
consfield.  The  soup  was  excellent, 
being  composed  of  beef  or  horse- 
meat  (with  now  and  again  a  donkey 
or  a  few  Angora  goats  thrown  in), 
and  a  variety  of  vegetables  from  Group  of  Typical  Boers. 

Kenilworth,  and  thickened  with  Boer  meal  or  mealie  meal.  Captain 
Tyson  carried  pockets  full  of  small  bottles,  the  contents  of  which  would 
be  emptied  in  the  brew,  "just  to  make  it  a  little  more  appetizing,  don't 
you  know."  The  allowance  of  meat  was  a  half  pound  for  two  days, 


622        THE   DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

which  could  be  exchanged   for  soup.     Long  rows  of  people  stood  for 
hours  awaiting  their  turn  to  be  served. 

When  the  siege  commenced,  De  Beers  had  8000  tons  of  coal  in 
stock  and  also  about  2000  tons  of  wood.  There  were  about  1500 
cases  of  dynamite  belonging  to  merchants,  and  De  Beers  had  several 
hundred  cases  in  stock.  Owing  to  the  dangerous  proximity  of  the  mag- 
azine to  the  town,  it  became  necessary  to  remove  nearly  all  the  dyna- 


A  Group  of  Mercenaries,  fighting  with  the  Boers. 

mite  to  a  magazine  at  Dronfield,  about  six  miles  north  of  Kimberley, 
from  which,  for  a  time,  supplies  were  drawn ;  but  these  magazines  were 
subsequently  blown  up  by  the  Boers. 

In  order  to  do  as  much  work  as  possible  while  the  supply  of  coal  and 
dynamite  lasted,  permission  was  obtained  from  the  officer  commanding 
for  the  miners  to  resume  work  in  the  mines,  on  condition  that  substi- 
tutes were  found  to  take  their  places  in  the  forts.  A  company  of  men 
was  organized  at  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines  by  the  assistant  general 
manager,  which  was  known  during  the  siege  as  the  Permanent  Guard,  and 
was  composed  mostly  of  refugees.  Work  was  continued  at  Kimberley 
mine  until  the  3d  of  November,  and  at  De  Beers  mine  until  the  4th  of 
December,  when  it  was  thought  advisable  to  discontinue  work  and  save 
the  supply  of  coal  for  pumping  water  for  the  use  of  the  town  and  prevent- 
ing the  mines  from  being  flooded.  The  amount  of  ground  hoisted  at 
Kimberley  mine  from  October  14  to  November  3  was  60,396  loads, 
and  at  De  Beers  mine  to  December  4  was  173,447.  The  pumps  in 


APPENDIX    I 


623 


both  mines  were  kept  going  until  a  few  days  before  the  siege  was  raised, 
and  started  again  before  the  water  had  filled  the  tunnels  in  the  rock  out- 
side the  mines  proper.  While  the  pumps  were  stopped  a  gang  of  natives 
were  kept  busy  at  each  mine  picking  out  pieces  of  coal  from  the  old  ash- 
heaps  to  supply  the  boilers  with  fuel.  Fortunately  all  damage  by  flooding 
to  the  underground  works  was  prevented. 

Communication  was  kept  up  between  Kimberley  and  the  nearest  mil- 
itary post,  which  was  at  the  Orange  River  bridge  on  the  Kimberley-De 
Aar  railway,  by  despatch  riders  who  evaded  the  Boers  and  found  shelter 
and  remounts  at  several  farms  of  friendly  colonists.  The  distance  was 


f 

'  /4^/v<-  f+t 


t-f  .1  j  rtAf 


TV"  '" 'v    r~*«'*   —".,"-,> 

UK  t  a,    t    f        ^.'jttr',      "'•"'•-y         -t'-,.    , 

<&*/£&  ££,1  ,-.'"t""",7'f.^ffS'.      ' ''    "^ 

; 
x '  .„      ,  '  u.  .-i. 


Code  Dispatches  received  during  the  Siege. 

eighty  miles.  Trooper  Brown  of  the  Cape  Mounted  Police  carried  the 
first  despatch,  and  covered  the  distance  in  thirteen  hours.  Great  credit  is 
due  to  these  men,  who  went  to  and  fro  at  great  peril  to  themselves.  Fore- 
most among  them  were  Brown,  Cummings,  Hambly,  and  Harding,  but 
there  were  many  others  who  did  good  work.  The  remuneration  paid  by 
the  military  was  very  small  —  ^5  for  the  round  trip,  but  in  many  cases, 
where  private  letters  were  carried,  this  sum  was  largely  increased  by  pri- 
vate donations.  Later,  when  the  investment  of  the  town  was  closer,  it 
became  very  difficult  to  get  through  the  Boer  lines,  and  despatch  riders, 
carrying  private  despatches,  were  paid  as  high  as  ;£iOO  for  a  round  trip. 
Many  of  these  men  were  captured  and  taken  to  Bloemfontein  as  prisoners 
of  war. 


624      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF  SOUTH    AFRICA 


How  zealously  and  efficiently  Rhodes  took  part  in  the  preparations  for 
the  defence  of  Kimberley  has  been   particularly  noted  by  Mr.  George  A. 

L.  Green,  editor  of  the 
Diamond  Fields  Advertiser 
in  his  able  and  accurate 
description  of  the  siege. 
"  The  need  for  mounted 
troops  to  watch  the  ene- 
my's movements  was  early 
felt.  The  formation  of 
a  new  corps,  to  be  called 
the  Kimberley  Light 
Horse,  was  one  of  the  last 
things  authorized  by  the 
High  Commissioners  be- 
fore Kimberley  was  cut 
off,  but  the  trouble  was 

Typical  Boer.  tQ     fin(j     {he     horses         Mr. 

Rhodes  came  to  the  rescue,  and  in  a  few  days  presented  the  corps  with 
five  hundred  admirable  mounts ;  he  also  did  some  good  work  as  recruit- 
ing sergeant.  Largely  through  his 
efforts  the  mounted  arm  of  the  de- 
fence forces  was  thus  increased  to 
nearly  nine  hundred  men.  Major 
Scott-Turner  was  appointed  with  the 
local  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel  to 
command  the  mounted  corps,  which 
now  comprised  Cape  Mounted  Police, 
Diamond  Fields  Horse,  and  Kimber- 
ley Light  Horse. 

"  It  was  Mr.  Rhodes's  pleasant 
custom  to  go  round  asking  the  ques- 
tion, '  Do  you  want  anything  ?  ' 
Needless  to  say  he  rarely  met  any  one 
who  did  not  want  something. 

"  One  evening,  while  Major  Cha-  MaJ°r  w"  H"  E"  Murray' 

mier  was  dining  with  Mr.  Rhodes,  they  were  discussing  the  artillery 
branch  of  the  defence  forces,  when  Mr.  Rhodes  asked  him  if  he  needed 
anything  for  his  artillery.  The  Major  replied  quickly,  '  Yes,  I  want 


APPENDIX    I 


625 


to  make  my  guns  mobile.  [Note.  —  It  is  mentioned  elsewhere  that 
these  guns  were  small  mountain  guns  without  limbers.]  I  require,  to  do 
that,  43  horses,  62  mules,  7  buck  wagons,  and  4  Scotch  carts.'  It  was  a 
tall  order,  but  Mr. 
Rhodes  made  a  men- 
tal note,  without 
any  comment,  and 
three  days  later 
Major  Chamier 
found  that  the 
whole  requisition 
had  been  delivered 
at  the  artillery 
camp.  All  he  could 
say,  when  he  saw  what  had  been  done  in  so  short  a  time,  was,  '  What 
a  wonderful  man  Mr.  Rhodes  is.'  It  was  an  object  lesson  to  the  military 
officers  to  see  how  quickly  provisions  of  this  kind  could  be  made  by  a 
civilian  who  was  in  no  way  handicapped  by  official  red  tape." 

From  the  first  threat  of  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  the  resources  of  De 
Beers  were  at  the  command  of  the  garrison  for  any  needed  service.      At 


Armored  Locomotive. 


Armored  Train,  constructed  at  De  Beers  Workshops. 

De  Beers  workshops   several    engines  and  trucks  were  armored  in  the 
manner  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustrations. 

These  trains  were  useful  in  many  ways,  and  of  very  great  service  in 
keeping  the  lines  of  communication  open.  Those  running  between 
Kimberley  and  De  Aar  were  manned  in  part  by  De  Beers  men.  The 


2  s 


626       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

military  organization  known  as  Scott's  Railway  Guards  was  also  mostly 
made  up  of  De  Beers  men,  with  Lieutenant  Colonel  R.  G.  Scott,  one  of 
the  officers  of  De  Beers  Company,  in  charge. 

The  first  encounter  with  the  attacking  Boers  was  on  the  24th  of 
October,  ten  days  after  the  investment  of  Kimberley.  Shortly  after  the 
water-supply  had  been  cut  off,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott-Turner  made  a 
reconnoissance  in  the  direction  of  the  pumping  station,  but  took  the  pre- 
caution to  follow  the  line  of  the  railway  as  far  as  Macfarlane's  farm, 
which  lies  eleven  miles  to  the  north  of  Kimberley.  His  force  consisted  of 
detachments  of  the  Kimberley  Light  Horse,  Captain  R.  G.  Scott,  V.  C. ; 
Cape  Mounted  Police,  Major  Elliott ;  and  the  Diamond  Fields  Horse, 
Major  Rodger.  The  armored  train,  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Webster, 


Railway  Bridge  at  Modeler  River,  both  ends  of  which  were  blown  up  by  the  Boers. 

Loyal  North  Lancashires,  supported  the  troops.  On  arriving  at  the  farm- 
houses at  Macfarlane's,  which  stand  on  a  knoll  from  which  the  country 
recedes  in  all  directions,  the  troops  halted  and  had  breakfast.  Immedi- 
ately afterward  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott-Turner  with  1 80  men  proceeded 
on  his  mission,  but  soon  after  his  departure  Boers  were  seen  in  several 
directions. 

Upon  the  appearance  of  the  enemy  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott-Turner 
took  up  a  strong  position  with  his  men.  In  a  short  time  the  Boers  sent 
a  few  of  their  number  under  a  flag  of  truce.  Major  Elliott  of  the  Cape 
Mounted  Police  met  them,  and  was  told  that  if  he  and  his  command  were 
on  police  duty  the  Boers  would  not  molest  them,  but  if  he  was  there  for 
a  fight,  they  would  put  a  bullet  through  his  head.  Major  Elliott  returned, 
however,  without  hindrance.  In  the  meantime  the  armored  train  had 


APPENDIX    I 


627 


Effect  of  a  Nine-pound  Shell. 

proceeded  beyond  Macfarlane's,  but  was  soon  recalled,  as  the  Boers  were 
evidently  trying  to  cut  it  off.  Later  in  the  morning  Boers  continued  to 
arrive  from  the  north  and  east,  and  came  within  rifle  range  of  Macfarlane's 
farm,  not  knowing 
that  it  was  occu- 
pied by  the  Brit- 
ish. The  patrol 
opened  fire  on  them, 
and  several  of  them 
were  seen  to  fall 
and  their  riderless 
horses  ran  across 
the  veld.  The 
Boers  retreated  hel- 
ter-skelter. Shortly 
afterward  five  Boers 
from  another  com-  Effect  of  a  Nine-pound  shell. 

mando  came  forward,  bearing  white  flags,  and  were  met  by  Major  Elliott, 
who  received  the  same  message  as  before.  The  Boers  evidently  had 
little  knowledge  of  the  proper  use  of  the  white  flag. 


628      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Trophies  of  the  Siege  —  The  Author's  Collection. 

In  pursuing  his  advance  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott-Turner  fell  into 
an  ambuscade,  for,  owing  to  the  very  long  grass,  which  was  nearly  waist 
high,  he  was  unable  to  detect  the  position  of  the  Boers,  who  were  strongly 
posted  behind  the  wall  of  a  dry  reservoir  in  numbers  greatly  exceeding 
the  British  force.  Not  a  shot  was  fired  until  the  British  came  within 
easy  rifle  range,  when  they  were  met  with  such  a  fusillade  from  the  maga- 
zine Mauser  rifles  that  they  sought  the  nearest  cover.  In  this  repulse  the 
losses  on  the  British  side  were  three  killed  and  nine  wounded,  and  four- 
teen horses  were  killed  or  disabled.  The  wounded  men  were  taken  up 
and  carried  back  with  the  retreating  force,  but  the  dead  were  left  behind, 
to  be  brought  in  two  days  afterward,  as  the  searching  party  failed  to  find 
the  bodies,  on  the  first  day,  in  the  tall  grass. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott-Turner  had  heliographed  to  the  conning 
tower  to  have  two  mountain  guns  and  two  Maxims  sent  out.  These 
were  despatched  at  once,  and  the  armored  train  took  out  150  of  the 
Loyal  North  Lancashires  under  command  of  Major  Murray.  The  Boers 
were  seen  to  be  moving  toward  Dronfield,  a  ridge  halfway  between 


APPENDIX   I 


629 


Kimberley  and  Macfarlane's.  The  armored  train  proceeded  beyond 
Dronfield,  but  was  ordered  back  to  that  place,  and  the  troops  left  the 
train  near  the  siding.  In  the  meantime  Captain  May,  with  two  guns, 
had  reached  a  position  just  south  of  the  siding,  when  the  Boers  opened 
fire  on  him  at  short  range,  having  allowed  his  scouts  to  come  close  to  the 
place  where  they  were  in  ambush.  Captain  May  quickly  unlimbered  his 
guns  under  a  hot  fire,  and  began  to  shell  the  Boers  in  return.  Fortu- 
nately for  him  most  of  the  Boer  bullets  went  over  the  heads  of  his  men, 
while  he  fired  his  guns  with  great  precision,  riddling  the  gamekeepers' 
houses,  behind  which  the  Boers  had  taken  shelter,  and  soon  driving  them 
to  the  rocky  ridge  beyond. 

Hearing  that  the  guns  and  regulars  had 
gone  out,  I  drove  to  a  position  north  of  Kenil- 
worth,  where  this  part  of  the  engagement  was 
in  full  view.  Captain  May  fired  eighty  rounds 
at  the  Boers,  and  his  men  behaved  splendidly 
under  a  rain  of  bullets  from  the  enemy,  only 
a  thousand  yards  distant.  Out  of  a  total  of 
twenty-six  men  and  eighteen  horses,  he  had 
seven  men  wounded,  three  horses  killed  and 
nine  wounded.  Gunner  Payne,  who  was 
wounded  in  the  foot  early  in  the  fight,  con- 
tinued to  lay  his  gun  until  the  end  of  the  fir- 
ing ;  and  bugler  Dickinson,  who  was  wounded 
in  the  right  hand,  changed  the  bugle  to  his  left 
hand  and  finished  his  notes. 

While  this  fight  was  going  on  Major  Mur- 
ray had  taken  his  men  from  the  train  near 
Dronfield,  and  had  begun  to  ascend  the  hill. 
At  his  first  advance  the  Boers  opened  fire. 
Forming  his  men  in  skirmishing  order  with  all 
possible  speed,  he  led  the  way  up  the  rocky 
ridge  where  the  Boers  were  lying  closely  under 
cover.  Fortunately  for  the  Major  and  his  troops,  the  ascent  of  the  Dron- 
field ridge  on  the  north  was  comparatively  easy,  being  over  a  gently  rising 
country  covered  with  small  brush,  with  here  and  there  a  shallow  ravine 
which  gave  a  little  shelter  to  his  men.  While  they  were  moving  for- 
ward, three  men,  not  in  uniform,  rode  up  to  him.  At  first  he  took  them 
for  Boers,  but  the  Northumberland  accent  of  the  first  who  hailed  him 


Boer  9  Ib.  Shrapnel,  %  Actual 
Size,  showing  Time  Fuse. 


630      THE   DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

was  convincing.  They  were  men  in  charge  of  De  Beers  farms,  and  when 
the  firing  began  they  were  looking  after  the  large  herd  of  De  Beers  cattle. 
One  of  these  keepers,  Dott,  guided  the  troops  up  the  hill,  taking 
them  out  of  sight  of  the  enemy  as  much  as  possible,  and  shouting 
"This  way,  Mr.  Officer!"  "This  way,  Mr.  Officer!" 


British  and  Boer  Shells,  fired  within  and  around  Kimberley  and  Beaconsfield. 

Their  scramble  up  the  hill  was  very  plucky.  In  front  lay  the  Boers 
hidden  in  the  rocks,  and  on  their  left  was  a  magazine  containing  1500 
cases  —  37  y^  tons  —  of  dynamite,  which  might  explode  at  any  moment 
should  a  Boer  bullet  strike  it,  as  it  was  protected  only  by  a  thin  sheet  of 
galvanized  iron.  Two  firing  parties  of  twenty-five  each  went  ahead  gallantly, 
with  the  main  force,  a  hundred  strong,  following  close  behind.  The  men  vol- 


APPENDIX    I  631 

leyed  and  ran  forward  alternately,  until  they  reached  the  crest  of  the  hill, 
when  they  saw  Commandant  Botha  and  two  or  three  companions  standing 
near  the  large  Griqualand  West  triangulation  beacon  which  stood  upon 
the  summit.  Most  of  the  Boers  made  their  escape  by  clambering  over 
the  precipitous  ridge  which  forms  the  south  and  east  boundary,  but 
their  brave  commander,  who  held  his  ground  to  the  last,  was  killed. 
The  mass  of  Boers  reached  their  horses,  which  stood  among  the  trees 
below  the  ridge,  and  rode  off  pell-mell  over  the  ridge  in  the  distance, 
with  shells  from  Captain  May's  guns  bursting  over  them. 


Site  of  Cronje's  I^aager,  Magersfontein. 

In  this  engagement  only  one  of  the  Boers  beside  Botha  was  killed, 
but  seven  were  wounded.  Major  Murray  had  two  officers  and  two  men 
wounded.  Colonel  Scott-Turner  and  his  men  returned  to  Kimberley  with- 
out meeting  with  any  further  opposition. 

It  was  fortunate  that  this  reconnoissance  was  made,  for  the  following 
despatch  was  taken  from  the  body  of  Commandant  Botha :  — 

"  HOOF  LAGER,  OCTOBER  23,   1899. 
"VELDCORNET   BOTHA,  Bakinkop,  Weledele  Heer. 

"  In  reply  to  your  inquiry  about  the  taking  of  cattle  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Kenilworth,  I  am  ordered  by  the  Head  Commandant  Wessels 
to  assure  you  that  he  considers  it  highly  desirable  that  the  same  should 
be  captured  as  soon  as  possible. 

"  I  am,  &c. 

"J.  B.  M.  HERTZOG." 

The  success  of  this  engagement  was  encouraging,  but  the  fast-increas- 
ing numbers  of  the  Boer  besiegers  and  the  extension  of  their  lines  soon 


632       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   IN   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Colonel  Kekewich, 
mandant  Wessels's  de- 
obtain  possession 
vited  to  effect 
an  operation 
the  military 

The 


put  a  check  on  such  excursions.  Early  in  November  Commandant 
Wessels  offered  to  receive  all  Africander  women  and  children  into  his 
own  camp,  and  at  the  same  time  offered  safe-conduct  to  all  other  women 
and  children  to  the  Orange  River.  The  first  part  of  his  despatch  was 
made  public,  but  not  the  last.  Wessels's  despatch  contained  the  following 
passage,  "  And  whereas  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  take  possession  of  the 
town  of  Kimberley,  i  therefore  I  demand  of  your  Honour  that  upon 
receipt  of  this  you,  as  k^.  Commanding  Officer,  shall  forthwith 

hand  over  the  town  of    •flH       Kimberley  with  all  its  troops  and  forts." 

in     acknowledging    receipt    of    Com- 
spatch,  wrote,  "  Your  desire  being  to 
of  Kimberley,  you  are  hereby   in- 
the  occupation   of   this   town  as 
\   of  war  by  the  employment  of 
forces  under  your  command." 
invitation  was  a  challenge. 

On  the  morning  of  the 
6th  of  November,  the  Boers 
fired  two  shots  at  Premier 
mine,  and  on  the  following 
day  the  first  actual  bombard- 
ment began,  from  a  position 
about  five  thousand  yards 
from  the  mine.  As  the 
compound,  containing  over 

Conning  Tower,  De  Beers  No.  I  Shaft.  twQ    thousand     natives,     was 

close  to  the  fort  and  in  the  direct  line  of  fire,  all  these  men  were  taken 
down  into  the  open  mine,  where  they  were  protected  by  an  embankment 
150  feet  high. 

On  the  same  day  other  Boer  guns  commenced  to  bombard  Kimberley 
from  a  ridge  nearly  five  thousand  yards  distant.  The  British  guns  replied 
intermittently  with  a  few  shots.  Kimberley  had  no  ammunition  to  waste. 
The  distances  were  so  great  that  the  little  popguns  in  the  Kimberley 
forts  frequently  "  turned  turtle,"  owing  to  the  great  elevation  at  which 
they  had  to  be  fired  in  order  to  carry  the  distance.  The  projectiles  fell 
more  like  meteors  out  of  the  sky  than  shells  from  modern  guns.  For 
the  first  few  days  the  Boer  shells  fell  short  of  the  inhabited  part  of  Kim- 
berley. On  the  nth  a  shell  burst  in  Dutoitspan  Road,  in  front  of  the 
Catholic  church,  and  killed  an  old  Kafir  woman,  which  was  the  only 


APPENDIX   I 


633 


634       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Boer  Trenches  at  Magersfontein. 


casualty  from  the  two  hundred  shells  fired  into  the  town  on  that  day. 

Seventy   shells    were   fired   by  the   Kimberley   artillery  during    the    day. 

The   Kimberley   mounted  troops  also  engaged   the    Boers   on   the  same 

day  near  Otto's  Kopje  mine,  and  troops  under  Major  Peakman  attacked 

the  Boers  on  Car- 
ter's Ridge  on 
their  left  flank. 

The  cessation 
of  active  hostilities 
on  Sunday  made 
it  a  welcome  day 
of  rest  to  all  the 
besieged,  and  no 
doubt  to  the  be- 
siegers as  well. 
It  gave  both  sides 
the  opportunity  of 
praying  long  and 

hard  that  their  enemies  might  be  confounded.     The  first  bombardment 

continued  for  five  days,  with  no  further  serious  casualties  on  the  British 

side,  and  the  townspeople,  appalled  at  first,  began  to  make  light  of  the 

danger.     More   than   half  the   shells  fell  without  exploding,  and  many 

children  as  well  as  grown  people  ran 

up,  after  each  shell  struck,  to  carry 

off  a  trophy.     These  prizes  and  the 

fragments  and  fuses  of  exploded  shells 

found  ready  purchasers.    The  military 

authorities  issued  an  order  forbidding 

people    from    collecting   these    shells 

and  fragments,  while  a  bombardment 

was  going  on,  owing  not  only  to  the 

risk  of  death   or  maiming  from  the 

exploding   shells,  but   to   the  greater 

danger  of  the  explosion  of  the  dyna- 

i_  •   i_  i    •  j  j  Plan  Through  Tomb. 

mite  mines  which  were   laid  around 

the  town.  The  prohibiting  order  carried  this  warning,  "  These  mines 
are  at  all  times  '  live,'  that  is,  the  fuses  and  firing  arrangements  are  so 
arranged  that  the  mines  can  be  fired  either  automatically  or  by  obser- 
vation, and  they  might  under  certain  circumstances  be  ignited  by  the 


APPENDIX    I 


635 


enemy's  shells."  This  order  should  have  frightened  the  average  Kim- 
berley  urchin,  but  its  apparent  effect  was  to  make  him  all  the  more  eager, 
for  he  seemed  to  think  that  he  had  a  chance  of  finding  a  prize  in  one 
of  those  dynamite  mines 
about  which  everybody  was 
talking. 

As  the  siege  dragged 
along,  some  of  the  Imperial 
officers  began  to  grow  impa- 
tient. Anticipating  the  ap- 
proach of  Lord  Methuen, 
they  planned  a  sortie  on  the 
25th  of  November  which 
was  fairly  successful ;  for 
they  took  Carter's  Ridge, 
some  three  miles  to  the  west 
of  Kimberley,  and  captured 
thirty-three  Boers,  including 
nine  wounded.  The  fighting 
continued  all  day,  and  re- 
sulted in  a  loss  to  the  garri- 
son of  six  killed  and  twenty- 
nine  wounded,  including  Colonel  Scott-Turner,  and  Captains  Bowen 
and  Hickson-Mahony.  Towards  evening  the  Kimberley  troops  re- 
turned to  town,  as  their  ammunition  was  giving  out  and  it  was  getting 

too  late  to  send  for  more.  This  was 
the  first  fight  that  many  of  these  men 
had  been  in,  and  their  gallantry  was 
greatly  creditable,  though  they  were 
unable  to  hold  the  ground  they  had 
won.  The  Boers  published  their  losses 
as  nine  killed,  seventeen  wounded,  and 
fifteen  missing,  instead  of  thirty-three 
who  were  brought  into  Kimberley. 

On  November  a8th  another  attempt 
was  made  to  drive  the  Boers  from  Car- 
Plan  Through  Columns.  ter's  Ridge.     Shortly  after  noon  there 
was  great  activity  in  town,  and  troops  were  moving  in  various  directions 
making  ready  for  a  sortie.     The  centre  of  the  advance,  commanded  by 


The  Honoured  Dead  Memorial. 


636      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

Colonel  Scott-Turner,  moved  out  in  the  direction  of  the  reservoir  and 
thence  along  a  ridge  which  gave  a  little  cover.  The  first  Boer  redoubts 
were  quickly  taken,  and  then  Colonel  Scott-Turner  sent  for  two  guns  to 
support  him.  He  drove  the  Boers  back  until  they  reached  their  last 
redoubt,  a  small  fortress  dug  in  the  rock,  with  a  coping  of  sand  bags 
arranged  with  loopholes.  Colonel  Scott-Turner  led  his  last  charge  and 
took  cover  in  a  small  redoubt,  only  sixty  yards  from  the  Boers.  There 
the  Boers  had  their  Armstrong  gun.  The  Diamond  Fields  Artillery 
were  obliged  to  cease  firing,  owing  to  the  danger  of  shelling  Colonel 
Scott-Turner  and  his  little  body  of  men. 


"  Long  Cecil"  as  a  Mild  Steel  Billet. 

While  this  engagement  was  going  on,  a  small  troop  of  the  Diamond 
Fields  Horse  attacked  the  Boer  camp  in  the  rear  of  their  redoubt.  This 
attack  was  successfully  carried  out  by  Captain  Shackleton,  who  dealt  the 
Boers  a  severe  blow.  He  captured  149  loaded  shells,  a  considerable 
quantity  of  gunpowder,  a  wagon  and  span  (16  oxen),  a  Cape  cart,  and 
the  limber  of  the  gun  which  Colonel  Scott-Turner  was  trying  to  take. 
Among  the  prizes  was  a  baboon,  which  proved  to  be  the  mascot  of  the 
company  of  Cape  Mounted  Police  stationed  at  Vryburg,  left  behind  when 
they  evacuated  the  town  somewhat  hurriedly. 

Meanwhile  Scott-Turner  and  his  men  were  in  a  most  awkward  posi- 
tion, lying  in  a  shallow  redoubt  with  its  side  partly  exposed,  for  the  re- 
doubts occupied  by  the  two  opposing  parties  both  faced  east  toward 
Kimberley,  but  the  one  occupied  by  the  Boers  was  much  larger  and  bet- 


APPENDIX   I 


63? 


ter  built.  It  was  impossible  for  any  of  the  attacking  party  to  show 
their  heads  without  receiving  a  volley  from  the  Boers,  and  thus  one  after 
another  of  these  brave  men  fell  back  dead,  until  finally  Scott-Turner 
took  a  rifle  and  was  about  to  fire,  when  he  fell,  shot  through  the  head. 
Major  Peakman  fought  his  way  with  a  small  force  to  one  of  the  redoubts, 
within  speaking  distance  of  the  survivors.  Here  he  learned  that  Scott- 
Turner  had  been  killed,  and  he  at  once  assumed  command  as  senior 
officer.  He  sent  a  message  asking  for  reinforcements,  but,  before  they 


"Long  Cecil"  in  course  of  Construction. 

arrived,  darkness  had  come  on,  and  he  decided  to  withdraw  his  men  to 
Carter's  farmhouse.  On  the  following  morning,  ambulance  wagons 
were  sent  out  in  charge  of  Captain  Robertson  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to 
collect  and  bring  in  the  dead.  It  was  then  ascertained  that  Kimberley 
had  lost  twenty-two  killed  and  twenty-eight  wounded,  one  of  the  latter 
being  mortally  hurt. 

In  these  encounters,  as  in  all  other  occasions  of  their  service  during 
the  siege,  the  ambulance  corps  was  notably  efficient,  and  the  Kimberley 
doctors,  as  a  body,  did  excellent  service,  both  in  the  field  under  fire  and 
in  the  hospitals.  Particular  mention  may  fitly  be  made  of  Drs.  Heber- 
den  and  Ortlepp,  who  were  attached  to  the  mounted  forces,  and  of  Drs. 
Ashe,  Mathias,  McKenzie,  and  Watkins. 


638      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

The  fierceness  of  this  engagement  may  be  judged  from  Rhodes's  state- 
ment at  a  De  Beers  meeting,  held  shortly  after  the  siege,  "  I  take  this 
opportunity  of  placing  it  on  record  that  seventy  citizen  soldiers  of  Kim- 
berley  went  to  take  the  position,  and  out  of  that  number  there  were  only 
twenty  who  were  able  to  creep  away  alive  or  unwounded  after  nightfall." 

The  agth  of  November  will  long  be  remembered  as  the  saddest  day 
during  the  siege,  when  the  brave  men  killed  in  this  action  were  buried 
with  military  and  civic  honors. 

In  order  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  women  and  children  whose  bread- 
winners had  fallen  in  battle,  a  fund  was  started  ;  to  this  De  Beers  gen- 


"  Long  Cecil,"  just  before  it  was  taken  out  of  the  Workshops. 

erously  gave  the  sum  of  .£10,000,  and  is  now  erecting  a  monument  on 
one  of  the  most  elevated  parts  of  the  town,  where  the  heroes  who  fell  in 
the  defence  of  Kimberley  are  to  find  their  last  resting-place. 

The  object  of  these  demonstrations  was  to  detain  as  many  of  the  be- 
sieging force  as  possible  from  leaving  to  join  General  Cronje  at  Modder 
River,  and  in  this  way  to  assist  Lord  Methuen  in  his  advance  to  the 
relief  of  Kimberley.  On  December  ist  Lord  Methuen's  first  search- 
light message  reached  Kimberley.  This  opening  of  communication  was 
highly  elating  and  all  were  eagerly  expectant  of  the  news.  Word  by 
word  this  message  was  spelled  out,  "  Please  inform  the  Remount  Depart- 
ment, Wynburg,  the  number  marked  on  the  hoof  of  horse  issued  to  Sur- 
geon O'Gorman  of  the  Kimberley  Garrison." 

Imagine  the  disappointment  upon  receiving  this  seemingly  frivolous 


APPENDIX   I 


639 


o 

UJ 

O 

03 

•z. 
o 


o 

ID 

tr 

te 

z 
o 
o 


640      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


LJI 


APPENDIX   I 


641 


I 


2  T 


642      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

message  after  the  long  ten  weeks'  investment.  It  was  later  reported  that 
this  communication  was  simply  a  test  to  ascertain  whether  the  signals  were 
passing  between  friends  or  enemies. 

On  December  nth  Lord  Methuen  met  with  his  first  reverse  in  his 
march  to  Kimberley,  where  he  was  defeated  by  Cronje.  I  watched  this 
battle  from  the  conning  tower,  but,  as  the  distance  was  about  sixteen 
miles,  one  could  see  only  the  bursting  of  the  shells,  the  big  yellow  cloud 
when  a  Lyddite  shell  exploded,  and  the  captive  balloon  giving  information 
as  to  the  position  of  the  Boers.  One  could  hear  the  roar  of  the  cannon, 
which  sounded  like  the  breaking  of  the  sea  against  a  cliff.  We  waited 


"  Long  Cecil  "  and  the  De  Beers  Men  who  made  it. 

anxiously  for  news  of  the  battle,  but  for  days  none  came.  The  sus- 
pense was  the  more  racking  from  the  spread  of  the  report  that,  as  soon 
as  Lord  Methuen  arrived,  there  would  be  an  enforced  exodus  of  all  the 
women  and  children  and  male  non-combatants  from  Kimberley.  The 
carrying  out  of  an  order  to  this  effect  would  inevitably  have  been  attended, 
in  my  judgment,  by  great  and  needless  suffering,  and  the  reported  deter- 
mination was  rightly  resented  by  all  the  citizens  who  had  borne  so  pluckily 
the  strain  of  the  siege. 

At  length,  on  December  i8th,  a  week  after  the  battle,  we  received 
the  first  authentic  news  that  Lord  Methuen  had  been  defeated  at  Magers- 
fontein.  This  unlooked-for  reverse,  so  blighting  to  sanguine  hopes,  cast 
a  deep  gloom  over  the  beleaguered  town,  but  there  was  no  lack  of  heart 


APPENDIX    I 


643 


"  Long  Cecil." 

in  its  stubborn  defence.  Christmas  came,  and  with  it  the  "  Best  wishes 
for  Christmas  Day  and  in  the  coming  New  Year,"  from  the  High  Com- 
missioners, and  also  one  from  the  Queen,  "  I  wish  you  and  all  my  brave 
soldiers  a  happy  Christmas ;  God  protect  and  bless  you  all."  These 
messages  cheered  the  garrison  and  were  given  a  most  enthusiastic 
reception. 

On  New  Year's  Day  the  mayor  sent  the  following  message  on  behalf 
of  the  citizens  of  Kimberley  :  "  The  inhabitants  of  Kimberley  humbly 
beg  to  send  your  Majesty  New  Year's  greeting.  The  troubles  they  have 


'  Long  Cecil "  firing  at  the  Boers  on  Carter's  Ridge. 


644       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH   AFRICA 

passed  through,  and  are  still  enduring,  only  tend  to  intensify  their  love 
and  loyalty  towards  your  Majesty's  throne  and  person  ;  "  to  which  the 
Queen  replied,  "  Am  deeply  touched  by  your  kind  message  and  New 
Year's  greetings.  I  watch  with  admiration  your  determined  and  gallant 
defence,  though  I  regret  the  unavoidable  loss  of  life  incurred." 

For  some  time  after  the  repulse  of  Lord  Methuen,  siege  life  dragged  on 
from  day  to  day,  with  nothing  very  stirring  to  break  the  monotony.  The 
various  corps  had  their  "At  Homes,"  when  tea  would  be  served,  and  the 
Kimberley  Regimental  Band  would  enliven  the  throngs  with  martial  music. 
Every  little  diversion  from  the  dull  routine  of  camp  life  was  welcome. 


1.  "  Long  Cecil,"  made  in  Kimberley. 

2.  Royal  Artillery  Gun  sent  to  defend  Kimberley. 

To  provide  employment  for  as  many  of  the  inhabitants  as  possible, 
avenues  were  laid  out  and  macadamized  within  the  municipality  of 
Kimberley  and  Beaconsfield,  which  add  much  to  the  convenience  and 
beauty  of  the  towns.  In  addition  to  this  street  work,  Rhodes  decided  to 
make  an  avenue  in  commemoration  of  the  siege  and  to  be  known  as 
"Siege  Avenue."  Years  before  he  had  planted  rows  of  grapevines 
ranging  from  1000  to  2000  feet  in  length,  which  were  trained  upon 
trellises,  but  Siege  Avenue  was  designed  to  outdo  anything  in  the  line  of 
vine  and  tree  planting  that  had  been  done  in  South  Africa.  Fourteen 
trenches,  each  over  6000  feet  long,  were  dug.  The  two  centre 
trenches  were  for  vines  and  were  14  feet  apart.  There  were  trenches 


APPENDIX    I 


645 


Casting  Shells  for  Seven-pounders,  De  Beers  Foundry. 


The  Soup  Kitchen. 


646      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


on  either  side  and  at  suitable  distances  for  planting  orange  trees.  The 
three  outside  trenches  were  for  ornamental  evergreen  trees,  such  as 
the  pepper,  eucalyptus,  Australian  beefwood,  and  cypress,  to  serve  as  a 
protection  to  the  vines  and  orange  trees  from  the  prevailing  winds. 
Since  the  siege  the  vines  and  trees  have  been  planted,  and  the  wooden 
trellis  has  been  erected,  at  a  cost  of  nearly  .£3000. 

When  the  work  of  digging  the  trenches  was  first  started,  several  hun- 
dred natives  were  employed.     These  trenches  were  about   a  mile  from 
the  nearest  fort.     As  soon  as  the  Y.  A.  O.  (young  artil- 
lery officer)  in  charge  saw  them,  he  telephoned  about  in 
these  words  to  the  O.  C.  in  the  conning  tower;  "A 
large  party  of  Boers  digging   trenches  just  north  of 
Kenilworth.  Shall  I  open         j^        fire    on    them  ?  " 
The  reply  came,  "Wait     ^l^k     and    ascertain     if 
they  are  Boers."  Y.  A.     J|     A     O.  to  O.  C.,  "  I 
don't   think    they   are     A    £' ?•    Boers."     A  min- 


234  S 

i.  Boer  loo-Pounder.       2.  Boer  o-Pounder.       3.  Boer  Pom-Pom.       4.  De  Beers  "  Long  Cecil," 
28-Pounder.        5-  De  Beers  7-Pounder. 

ute  later  Y.  A.  O.  to  O.  C.,  "  They  are  De  Beers  workmen  digging 
trenches  to  plant  trees." 

The  old  vines  and  fruit  trees  at  Kenilworth  were  of  incalculable 
value  to  the  people  of  Kimberley,  for  they  bore  immense  quantities  of 
splendid  fruit,  which  Rhodes  sent  to  the  hospitals,  to  the  military  camps, 
and  to  the  citizens  generally  as  far  as  it  would  go. 

In  my  own  garden  there  must  have  been  a  ton  and  a  half  weight  of 
beautiful  grapes,  which  daily  reminded  one  of  the  old  saying,  "  It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,"  as  one  saw  the  look  of  joy  on  the  faces 
of  the  women  and  children  as  they  left  the  garden.  My  mulberry  trees 
were  also  loaded  with  fruit,  which  was  eagerly  called  for.  Some  substi- 
tute for  butter  or  lard  was  particularly  wanted,  for  neither  of  these  was 


APPENDIX    I 


647 


Notice  on  the  Market  Buildings  during  the  Siege. 

procurable  in  the  town.  De  Beers  again  was  able  to  meet  this  call.  In 
the  great  warehouses  of  the  company  were  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
gallons  of  lard  oil  kept  in  stock  —  beautifully  clear  and  sweet  winter- 
strained  lard  oil.  Hundreds  of  people  came  to  the  Company's  stores 
daily  for  this  supply.  They  fried  their  meat  and  bread  in  the  oil,  and 
found  it  much  sweeter  than  most  South  African  butter. 

In  view  of  the  now  obvious  certainty  of  the  prolongation  of  the  siege 
and  the  call  for  a  gun  of  greater  range  and  efficiency  than  any  at  the 
command  of  the  garrison,  the  extraordinary  task  of  the  construction  of  the 
really  formidable  piece  aptly  named  "  Long  Cecil  "  was  undertaken  by 
De  Beers  Company.  It  was  designed  by  Mr.  George  Labram  in  De 
Beers  workshops.  Mr.  Edward  Goffe,  chief  draughtsman  to  the  com- 
pany, describes  the  making  of  the  gun  expertly  :  — 

"  Long  Cecil"  was  made  from  a  mild  steel  billet,  lof  inches  diam- 
eter and  10  feet  long,  weighing  2800  pounds,  this  being  turned  and 
rough  bored  to  form  the  inner  tube. 

The  breech  rings  were  forged  from  6  inches  x  2^  inches  Lowmoor 
iron.  They  were  turned  and  bored,  and  then  shrunk  on  in  place,  nine 


648       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

forming  the  first  row  shrunk  on  to  the  tube  direct,  and  four  more  the 
second  row  over  the  breech,  shrunken  over  the  first  row.  The  trunnion 
ring,  carrying  the  trunnions  or  bearings,  was  forged  in  one  piece  without 
weld,  from  a  length  of  6  inches  square  Lowmoor  iron,  and  was  shrunk 
on  against  a  shoulder  left  on  the  tube.  The  final  boring  was  done 
after  all  the  rings  were  shrunk  on,  the  calibre  of  the  gun  being  4.1 
inches.  The  barrel  was  then  ready  for  rifling.  The  rifling  is  a  poly- 
groove  increasing  twist,  consisting  of  32  grooves,  each  ^  inch  wide  and 
JJT  inch  deep,  which,  starting  with  a  pitch  of  I  in  100  at  the  breech  end, 


Inhabitants  of  Kimberley  waiting  (or  their  Daily  Allowance  of  Four  Ounces  of  Horse  Meat. 

and  increasing  to  a  pitch  of  i  in  32  in  a  length  equal  to  18  calibres  — 
73.8  inches,  are  uniform  at  that  pitch  for  the  remainder  of  the  length. 
The  curve  of  increase  is  the  semi-cubical  parabola. 

The  breech  block  was  made  of  mild  steel,  screwed  to  fit  the  breech 
with  a  "  V  "  thread,  flattened  top  and  bottom,  of  |  inch  pitch.  The 
"  De  Bange  "  system  of  obturation  was  adopted,  the  mushroom-headed 
bolt  being  of  mild  steel,  annealed  in  melted  tallow,  and  bored  for  the 
friction  firing  tube.  The  pad  was  made  of  rings  of  sheet  asbestos 
soaked  in  melted  tallow. 

The  carriage  was  made  of  steel  plates  ^  inch  thick,  cut  to  shape,  and 
riveted  together  in  pairs,  with  gun-metal  blocks  between,  for  trunnion 
and  axle  bearings.  The  wheels  were  taken  from  a  portable  engine, 
bushed  with  gun  metal  and  bored  to  fit  the  axle,  whose  ends  were  covered 
with  brass  dust-caps. 


APPENDIX   I 


649 


The  shells  weighed  29  pounds  each,  loaded  with  their  bursting  charge 
of  one  pound  of  powder,  and  were  fitted  with  the  percussion  fuse  devised 
by  Mr.  George  Labram. 

The  making  of  the  gun  was  begun  on  the  26th  of  December, 
1899.  It  was  proved  on  the  igth  of  January,  1900,  and  went  into 
action  January  23.  From  then  up  to  the  date  of  the  relief  of  Kim- 
berly  255  shells  were  fired  from  the  gun,  mostly  at  ranges  approximately 
5000  and  6000  yards,  the  distances  of  two  of  the  positions  of  the 
enemy,  which  were  easily  reached  with  elevations  of  12°  and  15°  re- 


Band  of  the  Kimberley  Volunteer  Regiment  playing  at  the  Mounted  Camp  during  the  Siege. 

spectively,  with  powder  charge  of  5  Ibs.  With  the  same  powder  charge 
another  position  8010  yards  distant  was  effectively  reached  with  an  ele- 
vation of  24°  15'. 

The  illustrations  on  previous  pages  show  graphically  how  "  Long 
Cecil  "  was  made. 

The  cut  on  page  643  represents  the  finished  gun  ready  to  go  into 
action.  On  page  639,  the  upper  figure  shows  the  general  construction 
of  the  gun  barrel ;  the  lower  figures  on  the  same  plate  show  the  breech 
block  and  obturator.  The  rifling  device  is  given  on  page  640,  and  on  the 
same  plate  the  boring  and  rifling  tools  are  represented. 

The  upper  figure  on  page  641  gives  the  details  of  the  construction 
of  the  shells  and  fuse  for  "  Long  Cecil,"  and  underneath  is  shown  the 
shell  made  for  the  2. 5-inch  popguns  with  which  Kimberley  was  defended. 


650       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


The  Mafeking  "  Long  Tom,"  manned  by  Mercenaries. 

The  manufacture  of  these  small  shells  was  undertaken  in  November,  and 
many  were  thrown  into  the  Boer  camps  "  with  C.  J.  R.'s  Compliments  " 
stamped  on  them. 

The  powder  for  charging  these  shells  was  fortunately  at  hand.  The 
old  Central  Company  of  Kimberley  mine  had  a  large  stock  of  black 
powder  which  was  used  for  blasting  in  the  open  mine,  as  far  back  as 
1888.  When  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  took  over  this  Company, 
the  powder  was  removed  and  placed  in  a  magazine  on  the  veld,  a  mile 


"  Long  Tom,"  en  route  to  Kimberley. 


APPENDIX   I 


651 


The  Boer  loo-Pound 
Shell  and  the  Imperial 
9-Pound  Shell. 


beyond  the  Company's  washing  machines.  Shortly  after  the  opening  of 
the  siege  I  had  stock  taken  of  the  contents  of  outlying  magazines  and 
brought  to  light  three  and  a  half  tons  of  good  black 
powder  of  various  grain.  This  discovery  was  of 
much  service,  for  it  enabled  the  garrison  to  respond 
more  frequently  to  the  fire  of  the  Boers,  and  made 
the  construction  and  use  of  "  Long  Cecil  "  possible. 
At  first,  the  shells  cast  in  our  foundry  were  not 
all  perfect,  and  the  bursting  of  some  of  them  led  to 
greater  care  in  testing  all  under  hydraulic  pressure. 
Ring  shells  made  by  De  Beers  are  shown  on  page 
641.  Rings  with  jagged  or  saw-toothed  edges  were 
first  cast ;  these  were  stacked  one  over  another 
in  the  mould,  and  the  outer  shell  cast  around  them. 
When  the  bursting  charge  of  powder  exploded,  these 
rings  were  broken  into  a  hundred  pieces  and  thrown 
in  all  directions. 

The  Boers  evidently  resented  the  firing  of"  Long 
Cecil,"  for  on  the  24th  of  January  they  kept  up  a  fierce  cannonade, 
throwing  about  five  hundred  shells  into  Kimberley.  A  French  officer, 
who  was  at  Kampfersdam  during  a  part  of  the  siege,  says 
that  "  Long  Cecil  "  did  good  practice,  and  with  one  shell 
killed  seven  Boers,  only  two  less  than  the  Boers  killed 
with  eight  thousand  shells.  The  heavy  and  continuous 
firing  which  took  place  on  the  25th  of  January  and  fol- 
lowing days  caused  many  to  build  "  shell-proofs  "  for  the 
protection  of  the  women  and  children. 
On  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  Feb- 
ruary, at  about  eleven  o'clock,  I  was 
in  the  conning  tower,  and  noticed  an 
immense  volume  of  smoke  belched 
forth  from  a  gun  on  Kampfersdam 
tailing  heap.  I  remarked  to  those 
near  me  that  the  Boers  had  brought  a 
"  Long  Tom  "  against  us  at  last.  In 
a  few  seconds  the  bang  of  the  gun 
was  heard,  followed  a  little  later  by  a  sound  almost  indescribable  as  the 
shell  came  whizzing  through  the  air.  It  has  been  likened  not  unfitly  to 
the  roar  of  an  express  train  passing  at  full  speed.  Then  a  cloud  of  red 


Showing  Interior  of  Boer  loo-Pound  Ring 
Shell  and  Shrapnel  combined. 


652      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


dust  was  seen  where  the  shell  had  struck,  shortly  followed  by  the  crash 
of  the  explosion.  In  the  vicinity  the  air  was  filled  with  fragments  of 
the  shell  or  bullets  of  the  shrapnel,  which  flew  on  with  a  singing  "  ping, 
ping,  ping."  Twenty-five  of  these  shells  were  fired  on  that  day,  many 
of  which  did  not  explode.  One  was  brought  in  and  measured,  and  found 
to  be  fifteen  centimetres,  or  about  six  inches,  in  diameter. 

The  "  Long  Tom  " 
which  was  brought  to 
Kimberley  was  a  cap- 
tured piece  which  had 
been  struck  by  a  shell 
on  the  muzzle  and 
broken.  This  gun  was 
taken  to  Pretoria  or 
Johannesburg,  where  the 
broken  part  of  the  muz- 
zle was  cut  off  and  a 
band  shrunk  on  the  in- 
jured end.  The  illustra- 
tion of  this  gun  on  page 
650,  on  a  railway  truck 
en  route  from  Pretoria 
to  Bloemfontein,  shows 
the  method  of  moving 
these  guns  without  a 
limber.  The  gun  was 
noted  for  bad  shooting. 
On  the  afternoon  of 

Premier  Studio,  showing  Effect  of  loo-Pound  Shell.  ^j^     „ ^      Qf      February 

the  Boers  turned  the  gun  on  the  herd  of  cattle  which  were  being  driven 
in  for  the  night.  This  shot  missed  the  cattle  by  half  a  mile  to  the  left. 
Three  more  shots  were  fired,  all  falling  wide  of  the  target  at  which  they 
were  aimed.  The  illustrations  here  given  of  the  effect  of  these  shells 
are  more  graphic  than  words. 

On  the  first  day  the  big  gun  was  fired,  the  Buffalo  Club  was  struck 
and  sustained  considerable  damage,  and  a  few  private  buildings  were 
more  or  less  injured.  On  the  gth  the  firing  of  "  Long  Tom  "  com- 
menced at  daybreak,  and  was  continued  at  intervals  throughout  the  day 
until  six  P.M.,  when  'the  last  shot  was  fired.  This  shot  killed  George 


APPENDIX    I 


653 


Effect  of  a  loo- Pounder. 


Effect  of  a  loo-Pounder. 


654      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Labram,  one  of  the  most  able  men  in  the  service  of  De  Beers  Company. 
He  had  entered  his  room  in  the  Grand  Hotel  only  a  minute  before.  The 

shell  passed  through  the  roof 
and  three  brick  walls  before 
reaching  Labram's  room.  Dur- 
ing the  same  day  the  wife  and 
son  (fifteen  months  old)  of  Mr. 
Robert  Solomon  were  struck  by 
the  fragments  of  a  shrapnel  shell, 
which  burst  as  it  came  through 
the  outer  wall  of  the  building  in 
which  they  were  temporarily 
staying.  The  child  was  killed 
instantly,  but  the  poor  mother 
was  taken  to  the  hospital,  where 
she  died,  thirty-six  hours  after- 
ward, from  her  injuries. 

During  Saturday  the  firing 
continued,  and  buildings  in  every 
quarter  of  the  town  were  struck. 
The  peril  of  the  unprotected 
people  was  appalling.  There  was  the  greatest  activity  in  building  shel- 
ters for  the  women  and  children.  The  tailing  heaps  were  tunnelled,  and 
the  miners  erected  long  rows  of  tunnel  timbers  against  the  debris  em- 
bankments, and  covered 
them  with  corrugated  iron. 
Gangs  of  natives  soon  pro- 
tected these  galleries  with 
debris  several  feet  deep. 
Still  there  were  thousands 
unprovided  with  any  shelter 
except  the  thin  roofs  and 
walls  of  their  houses,  which 
were  absolutely  useless 

against       a        hundred-pound         Mr  Compton.s  Drawing-room  barricaded  for  Shelter 

shell  travelling  at  the  rate  of  from  Boer  9-Pounders. 

a  thousand  feet  a  second.  When  firing  ceased,  about  midday,  there  was 
a  sigh  of  relief  from  many  hearts,  for  it  was  thought  that  firing  would 
not  be  resumed  until  Monday  morning. 


Effect  of  a  loo-Pounder. 


APPENDIX   I 


655 


The  funeral  of  Mr.  Labram  was  timed  to  leave  the  hospital  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  as  it  was  thought  unsafe  to  have  the  funeral  by  day. 
He  was  buried  with  full  military  honors,  and,  as  the  hour  for  departure 
from  the  hospital  approached,  the  streets  were  thronged  with  anxious  and 
sorrowful  people.  The  troops  consisted  of  regulars,  the  various  volunteer 
corps,  and  members  of  the  Town  Guard.  My  carriage  contained  Colonel 
Kekewich,  Mr.  Rhodes,  Mr.  Pickering,  and  myself.  Other  carriages 
followed,  and  hundreds  who  were  unable  to  procure  conveyances,  owing 
to  the  scarcity  of  horses,  joined  on  foot. 

Precisely  at  eight  o'clock  the  procession  moved  from  the  hospital,  but, 
before  it  had  gone  a  hundred  yards,  the  bugler  in  the  conning  tower 


Shell-proof,  constructed  by  the  Public  Works  Department. 

gave  the  well-known  notes  which  meant  that  the  big  Boer  gun  had  been 
fired.  The  band  was  playing  the  funeral  march  at  the  time,  so  that  few 
people  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  hospital  heard  the  warning  notes. 
Shortly,  however,  the  boom  of  the  cannon  was  heard,  followed  by  that 
never-to-be-forgotten  hiss  of  the  shell  passing  through  the  air.  Traitors 
in  the  town  had  given  the  Boers  information  as  to  the  time  of  the  funeral, 
and  doubtless  signalled  from  some  elevated  place  to  the  besiegers  at 
Kampfersdam  the  moment  the  procession  started.  There  was  a  sigh  of 
relief  as  the  fearful  shell  passed  over  the  heads  of  the  multitude,  and  fell 
harmless  in  vacant  land  behind  the  hospital.  Colonel  Kekewich  gave 
orders  for  the  band  to  cease  playing,  and  that  all  carriage  lights  be  put 
out.  It  was  a  grim  and  silent  funeral.  Shot  after  shot  came  thundering 


656      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


over  or  into  the  town,  as  the  procession  passed  through  it.     At  last,  as  we 
approached  the  cemetery,  we  could  see  the  flash  of  the  gun  as  it  was  fired. 


Excavations  in  the  Tailing  Heaps  at  Beaconsfield,  used  as  Shelters. 

While  the  last  rites  were  said,  the  voice  of  the  venerable  archdeacon 
was  drowned  by  the  roar  of  the  gun  and  the  hissing  of  the  shells. 

When  the  ceremony  was  over,  every  one  hastened  home  to  seek  what- 
ever cover  could  be  found.     Crowds  of  people  were  massed   for  hours 

behind  flimsy  walls, 
which  could  not  pro- 
tect them,  but  even 
this  slight  pretence 
of  shelter  was  com- 
forting. The  terrible 
night  of  the  loth  of 
February,  1900,  will 
never  be  effaced  from 
the  memories  of 
those  who  passed 
through  it. 

So  great  was  the 

Shell-proof,  after  the  Siege.  strain      upon      the 

nerves  of  the  people  that  it  was  necessary  that  some  one  should  come  to 
their  help,  and  as  usual  that  "some  one"  was  Rhodes.  Early  on  Sunday 
morning  he  came  to  my  house  and  said :  "  You  told  me,  some  time  ago, 
that  you  could  put  a  lot  of  people  down  in  the  mines,  and  I  think  the 


APPENDIX    I 


657 


time  has  now  come  when  we 
must  do  it.  Will  you  get  your 
mines  ready  so  that  the  people 
can  be  sent  down  this  evening?" 
I  supervised  the  work  at  De 
Beers  mine,  and  my  son  was  its 
director  at  Kimberley.  Tunnels 
one  thousand  and  twelve  hun- 
dred feet  below  the  surface  were 
cleaned  out  —  sanitary  arrange- 
ments were  provided,  and,  early 
in  the  afternoon,  both  mines  were 
ready  for  occupation.  Rhodes 
had  sent  a  notice  about  town 
which  is  given  as  an  illustration 

011  page  658,  and  Speaks  for  itself.  Shell-proof  at  the  Convent. 

Attention  was  called  to  it  by  the  ringing  of  a  bell.  Crowds  flocked  to 
both  shafts  during  the  afternoon  and  evening ;  and  before  midnight 
nearly  three  thousand  women  and  children  were  safely  housed,  deep 
down  in  the  subterranean  passages  of  the  mines.  There  was  discom- 


Wf*mwjftf?W^*fi 

*'  ''£/ T/  '  ••'&ii'  wi/jOi 

pR'/* iij '  y i  i-'iH \ ^ i i-'  i 

>'    /"  >       '•  ;,!'  •      '>)'< 


-.  .     - 


-     ^- 


Shell-proof  Dugouts. 

fort,  of  course,  in  this  rude  lodging,  but  all  were  happy  in  the  thought 

that  they  were  beyond  the  sound  of  screeching  shells,  and  out  of  danger. 

I   have  never  seen  so  much  patience  and  pluck  shown  by  women  as 

was  shown  by  those  in  the  mines.     There  was  no  sign  of  fear  in  going 

2  u 


658      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

down  in  the  rough  mine  cages,  and  when  they  reached  the  station,  they 
found  to  their  joy  that  the  tunnel  was  like  a  beautiful  arcade,  brilliantly 
lighted  with  electric  rays.  Food  was  served  several  times  a  day,  and  time 
went  so  quickly  that  dates  were  lost  sight  of  and  days  and  nights  be- 
came hopelessly  mixed.  One  lady  asked  me,  "  Is  this  yesterday  or  to-day 
or  to-morrow  ?  "  When  the  glad  news  was  brought  to  them  that  Kim- 
berley  was  relieved,  they  scarcely  believed  it,  and  many  preferred  to  re- 
main in  the  mines  rather  than  take  any  chances  of  hearing  "  Long  Tom  " 


PUN  DAY 

JANaCHILDREN  VVHO.DESI  BE 

I  COM  PLE  TE.SH  ELTE  R.TO.PROCEi 
TO.Kl  MBERLEXAN  D.DE-BEEf 

SHAFTS.  THEY.WILUBE.LOWEF 


8  O'CLCCH.THROUGHOUT.T 
LAMPS.&CU1DeS,WILL.B 

PROVIDED.       r  J  R 


Notice  sent  round  the  Town  during  the  Shelling  by  the  Boers'  loo-Pound  Gun. 

give  a  parting  roar,  or  the  awful  screech  of  a  flying  shell.  On  Friday 
morning  all  were  brought  to  the  surface,  thankful  for  the  few  days  of 
peace  and  safety. 

The  illustration  on  page  660  shows  the  people  at  the  shaft  waiting  to 
be  sent  down.  That  all  were  taken  down  into  the  mine  and  brought  up 
again  without  the  least  mishap  speaks  well  for  those  who  carried  out  the 
details  at  each  mine. 

The  Boers  fired  a  few  shots  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  on 
the  1  5th,  from  "Long  Tom."  They  knew  before  we  did  that  a  British 
column  was  nearing  Kimberley,  for  they  had  telegraphic  communication 
between  all  their  camps  ;  and  while  the  column  was  slowly  advancing  they 
were  using  every  effort  to  remove  the  big  gun,  which  they  did  success- 


APPENDIX    I 


659 


fully.  Over  eight  thousand  shells  had  been  fired  by  the  Boers  into  Kim- 
berley  and  its  fortifications,  with  the  result  that,  out  of  a  total  population 
of  fifty  thousand,  only  nine  were  killed,  and  the  majority  of  these  were 
women  and  children. 

At  two  P.M.  a  huge  cloud  of  dust  rose  in  the  distant  southeast,  and 
shortly  afterward  one  could  see  mounted  troops  advancing,  and  a  helio- 
graphic  message  informed  the  officer  commanding  Kimberley  that  it  was 
the  relief  column.  The  news  spread  like  wildfire,  and  from  every  place 
which  afforded  a  view,  thousands  of  eager  eyes  were  scanning  the  veld 


Too  Late !     These  two  Siege  Guns  arrived  after  the  Siege. 


660      THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


The  United  States  Consulate. 


Women  and  Children  waiting  to  be  lowered  down  De  Beers  Mine. 


APPENDIX    I 


66 1 


for  a  glimpse  of  the  troops.  The  few  public  conveyances  which  were 
left  in  Kimberley  were  quickly  taken  to  convey  people  to  meet  the 
column. 

As  soon  as  I  received  the  news,  I  made  an  effort  to  obtain  a  cab,  but 
found  it  impossible.  A  small  spring  wagon  drawn  by  a  mule  and  driven 
by  a  Kafir  passed  my  door  at  this  time.  Recognizing  it  as  a  De  Beers 
fruit  and  vegetable  wagon,  I  commandeered  it,  and  in  company  with  Cap- 
tain Bowen  was  driven  to  the  Sanitorium,  which  afforded  a  good  view  of 


Double-decked  Cage  loaded  with  People  and  their  Bedding  being  hoisted  from  the  I2oo-foot 

level  of  De  Beers  Mine. 

the  advancing  troops.  With  my  field  glasses  I  saw  the  troops  slowly 
advancing,  and  as  they  rounded  a  hill  near  the  farmhouse  on  De  Beers 
farm,  Benaauwdheidsfontein,  the  Boer  gun  at  Olefantsfontein,  southeast 
of  Premier  mine,  fired  a  few  shots,  but  the  relief  column  had  a  battery 
which  soon  silenced  the  Boer  gun.  Having  telephoned  for  my  light  car- 
riage and  horses,  I  soon  joined  the  great  crowd  which  thronged  every 
road  leading  toward  the  advancing  troops.  It  was  seven  o'clock  before 
they  got  into  camp.  Thus  Kimberley  was  relieved  after  a  long  and  event- 
ful siege  of  124  days.  My  old  friend,  Colonel  Rimmington  of  Rimming- 
ton's  Scouts,  was  among  one  of  the  first  arrivals.  Thinking  that  I  was  doing 


662       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


him  a  good  turn,  I  put  him  up  at  my  house.  I  am  sure  he  enjoyed  the  bath, 
but  when  I  went  to  call  him  the  next  morning,  at  four  o'clock,  he  was  gone. 
Missing  the  bedclothes,  search  was  made  in  the  garden,  and  there  the 
poor  old  tired  soldier,  wrapped  up  in  clean  sheets  and  blankets,  was  lying 
on  the  ground,  sleeping  as  only  a  weary  soldier  can  sleep.  He  had  found 
the  house  too  stuffy  after  sleeping  so  long  on  the  veld. 

General  French  moved  at  daybreak  the  morning  after  his  arrival,  tak- 
ing with  him  about  half  of  his  column  and  four  batteries  of  field  guns. 
He  gave  battle  to  the  Boers  north  of  Kimberley,  and  cleared  them  out  of 
their  late  haunts.  The  Boers  left  one  gun  behind,  an  old  Armstrong 
gun,  the  limber  of  which  was  captured  November  25th.  On  Saturday 

morning  at  daybreak  General 
French  left  for  Paardeberg, 
taking  those  of  his  troops  who 
had  rested  on  Friday,  and  the 
others  followed  the  next  day. 
It  has  often  been  asserted 
that  Rhodes  interfered  with 
the  military.  He  did  suggest 
to  Lord  Methuen  that  there 
were  more  ways  into  Kim- 
berley than  the  one  over  the 
Magersfontein  and  Spytfontein 
kopjes,  and  mentioned  the 
route  over  which  General 
French  came  when  he  relieved 
Kimberley.  He  proposed  that 


Boer  Gun  captured  at  Dronfield. 


small  forts  be  built,  every  three  or  four  miles,  advancing  from  Modder 
River  and  keeping  up  the  base  of  supplies  at  that  place.  His  plan 
was  substantially  the  blockhouse  system,  which  the  army  later  adopted, 
only  that  forts,  instead  of  houses,  would  have  been  necessary,  as  the 
Boers  then  had  cannon.  The  only  reply  to  this  suggestion  was  an  order 
to  the  officers  commanding  Kimberley  to  have  no  communication  what- 
ever with  Mr.  Rhodes  on  military  subjects. 

Fortunately  for  the  defence  of  Kimberley,  Rhodes's  energies  were 
unflagging,  in  spite  of  rebuffs.  Throughout  the  siege  no  appeal  for  assist- 
ance was  ever  made  to  him,  nor  even  a  want  intimated  on  the  part  of  the 
garrison,  that  he  did  not  do  all  in  his  power  to  meet  at  once.  The  forma- 
tion of  the  Kimberley  Light  Horse  was  due  to  him.  So,  too,  was  the 


APPENDIX   I 


663 


fortification  of  the  village  of  Kenilworth  and  the  outlying  washing 
machines.  The  making  of  the  gun,  "  Long  Cecil,"  was  by  his  order. 
The  employment  of  thousands  of  idle  hands  in  street-making  in  and 
around  Kimberley  was  at  his  suggestion,  and  paid  for  by  De  Beers 
Company,  thus  assuring  a  support  more  welcome  than  charity.  The 
undertaking  of  the  soup  kitchen  was  his  proposal.  From  the  great  De 
Beers  dairy  milk  was  supplied  to  the  hospitals,  the  sick  at  home,  and  to  a 
depot  where  it  was  distributed  under  the  supervision  of  a  committee. 


Surrender  of  General  Cronje.     Reproduced  by  kind  permission  of  Mr.  L.  S.  Amery. 

Fruit  and  vegetables  from  De  Beers  gardens  were  sent  to  the  hospitals,  to 
the  camps,  and  to  the  poorer  families  of  the  town.  New  gardens  were 
started  to  enlarge  the  supply.  The  ice  plant  was  kept  constantly 
running,  and  ice  furnished  to  the  hospitals,  the  garrison,  and  the  citizens 
generally.  In  everything  contributing  to  the  efficiency  of  the  defence 
and  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  Kimberley,  Rhodes  took  the  keenest 
interest,  and,  whenever  possible,  a  most  active  part. 

A  few  days  before  the  relief  column  came  in,  there  was  a  meeting  of  a 
considerable  number  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Kimberley,  with  the  object 
of  sending  a  message  to  Lord  Roberts  to  inform  him  of  the  situation  and 


664       THE    DIAMOND    MINES   OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

ascertain  whether  there  was  any  immediate  prospect  of  relief.  Rhodes, 
the  mayor  and  ex-mayor,  a  judge  of  the  High  Court,  several  members  of 
Parliament,  the  author,  and  other  citizens  were  present,  and  it  was 
decided  to  send  the  following  message  to  Lord  Roberts,  who  was  then  at 


Laid  Roberts  and  General  Cronje  seated  under  the  Trees  on  the  Modder  River 
at  Paardeberg. 

Modder  River.  The  military  censor  at  first  refused  to  send  it,  but  the 
officer  commanding  finally  decided  to  permit  its  transmission  in  an 
abridged  form. 

"KiMBERLEY,  loth  February.  —  On  behalf  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
town,  we  respectfully  desire  to  be  informed  whether  there  is  an  intention 
on  your  part  to  make  an  immediate  effort  for  our  relief.  Your  troops  have 
been  for  more  than  two  months  within  a  distance  of  a  little  over  20 
miles  from  Kimberley,  and  if  the  Spytfontein  hills  are  too  strong  for 
them,  there  is  an  easy  approach  over  a  level  flat.  This  town,  with  a 
population  of  over  45,000  people,  has  been  besieged  for  120  days,  and 
a  large  portion  of  its  inhabitants  have  been  enduring  great  hardships. 
Scurvy  is  rampant  among  the  natives ;  children,  owing  to  lack  of  proper 
food,  are  dying  in  great  numbers,  and  dysentery  and  typhoid  are  very  preva- 


APPENDIX    I  665 

lent.  The  chief  food  of  the  whites  has  been  bread  and  horseflesh  for  a 
long  time  past,  and  for  the  blacks  meal  and  salt  only.  These  hardships, 
we  think  you  will  agree,  have  been  borne  patiently  and  without  complaint 
by  the  people.  During  the  past  few  days  the  enemy  has  brought  into 
action  from  a  position  within  three  miles  of  us  a  six-inch  gun,  throwing  a 
hundred-pound  shell  which  is  setting  fire  to  our  buildings,  and  is  daily 
causing  death  among  the  population.  As  you  are  aware,  the  military 
guns  here  are  totally  unable  to  cope  with  this  new  gun.  The  only 
weapon  which  gives  any  help  is  one  locally  manufactured.  Under  these 
circumstances,  as  representing  this  community,  we  feel  that  we  are  justi- 
fied in  asking  whether  you  have  any  immediate  intention  of  instructing 
your  troops  to  come  to  our  relief.  We  understand  that  large  reenforce- 


General  Cronje  as  a  Prisoner  of  War. 

ments  have  recently  arrived  at  Cape  Town,  and  we  feel  sure  that  your 
men  at  Modder  River  have,  at  the  outside,  10,000  Boers  opposed  to  them. 
You  must  be  the  judge  as  to  what  number  of  British  troops  would  be 
required  to  deal  with  this  body  of  men,  but  it  is  absolutely  essential  that 
immediate  relief  should  be  afforded  to  this  place." 

The  reply  received  from  Lord  Roberts  was  sent  to  Colonel  Keke- 
wich,  and  was  as  follows :  — 

"  I  beg  you  will  represent  to  the  Mayor  and  Mr.  Rhodes,  as  strongly 
as  you  possibly  can,  the  disastrous  and  humiliating  effect  of  surrender 
after  so  long  and  glorious  defence.  Many  days  cannot  possibly  elapse 
before  Kimberley  will  be  relieved,  as  we  commence  active  operations 
to-morrow.  Future  military  operations  depend  in  a  large  degree  on  your 
maintaining  your  position  a  very  short  time  longer." 


666      THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 


Reception  of  Lord  Roberts  and  Lord  Kitchener,  Kimberley  Town  Hall. 

What  message  or  messages  were  sent  by  the  military  from  Kimberley 
that  conveyed  to  the  mind  of  Lord  Roberts  that  there  was  even  the 
remotest  chance  of  the  citizens  of  Kimberley  surrendering  to  the  Boers, 
will  probably  always  remain  a  military  secret.  Suffice  it  to  say,  however, 
that  such  a  thought  never  entered  the  minds  of  the  men  of  Kimberley, 
who  would  rather  have  died  in  their  trenches  than  have  surrendered,  so 
long  as  any  scrap  of  food  remained. 

The  saving  of  Kimberley  from  the  attack  of  the  Boers  was  due  to 
the  natural  strength  of  the  position  and  its  improvised  fortifications ;  to 
the  courage  of  the  citizen  soldiers,  and  the  small  force  of  Imperial 
troops ;  to  the  indomitable  spirit  of  Cecil  John  Rhodes,  the  chairman 
of  De  Beers  Company,  whose  pent-up  energies  found  vent  in  devising 
ways  and  means  for  adding  to  the  plans  of  defence ;  to  the  forethought 
of  the  De  Beers  men  in  charge  of  buying  food  for  man  and  beast,  who 
laid  in  supplies  far  in  excess  of  any  expected  emergency  ;  and  possibly, 
least  of  all,  to  the  disinclination  of  the  Boers  to  attack  energetically  a 
fortified  town  so  long  invested  by  commandoes  greatly  outnumbering  the 
garrison  under  arms. 


APPENDIX    II 

WINDING   ENGINES   FOR   THE    MAIN   SHAFT, 
KIMBERLEY   MINE 

THIS  plant  was  designed  by  me  for  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines 
Limited,  and  built  by  Messrs.  James  Simpson  &  Co.,  of  London,  and 
consists  of  a  pair  of  inverted  vertical  tandem  compound-condensing 
engines,  driving  two  reels,  which  are  capable  of  carrying  1800  feet  of 
flat  ropes  each.  The  principal  dimensions  of  these  engines  are  as 
follows,  viz. :  — 

Diameter  of  high-pressure  cylinders,  two  .  .  1 9. 5  in. 
Diameter  of  low-pressure  cylinders,  two  .  34  " 

Stroke  of  all  cylinders      .          .          .          .  48        " 

Diameter  of  each  air  pump,  two         .          .  .       24        " 

Stroke  of  each  air  pump  .          .          .  .16" 

Diameter  of  steam  cylinder  of  the  reversing  engine  7  " 
Diameter  of  oil  cataract  of  the  reversing  engine  .  4.75  " 

Stroke  of  reversing  engine          .          .          .  .18" 

Diameter  of  each  high-pressure  steam  pipe  .  .         6        " 

Diameter  of  each  low-pressure  steam  pipe  .  .  10  " 
Diameter  of  each  exhaust  pipe  to  the  condenser  .  14  " 

Diameter  of  each  high-pressure  valve  .  .  .  6  " 
Diameter  of  each  low-pressure  valve  .  .  8  " 

Diameter  of  each  high-pressure  piston  rod    .  .          3.5    «' 

Diameter  of  each  low-pressure  piston  rod    .  .         4.5    ' 

Diameter  of  crank-pins    .          .          .          .  •          5-5    ' 

Length  of  crank-pins      .          .          .          .  •         7        " 

Diameter  of  each  main  bearing  .          .  .        14        " 

Length  of  each  main  bearing     .          .          .  .       32.5     " 

Diameter  of  main  crank-shaft  in  the  middle  .        1 6        " 

Smallest  diameter  of  each  reel  .  .  .  .  9  ft.  i-J-  " 
Size  of  flat  ropes  used  ....  sfin.  by^  " 
Capacity  of  blue  ground  skips  .  .  .  100  cubic  feet. 

667 


668       THE    DIAMOND    MINES    OF   SOUTH    AFRICA 

These  engines  were  intended  to  hoist  six  loads,  each  weighing  1600 
Ibs.,  from  the  lOOO-foot  level  in  45  seconds,  including  filling,  starting, 
discharging,  and  stopping;  but  they  do  it  in  from  30  to  35  seconds. 

All  the  steam  cylinders  are  fitted  with  the  Corliss  valve  gear,  having 
vacuum  dash-pots,  the  cut-off"  being  effected  by  the  same  lever  that  works 
the  throttle  valves. 

Reversing  is  effected  by  ordinary  links  worked  by  eccentrics  fitted  on 
the  tail-shafts  ;  the  reversing  engine  being  fitted  with  a  floating  lever  so 
that  the  motion  of  the  piston  coincides  exactly  with  the  motion  of  the 
small  hand  lever. 

The  two  high  pressure  cylinders  exhaust  into  the  receiver,  which  is 
5  ft.  diameter  by  18  ft.  long,  fitted  with  sixty -eight  2-inch  wrought- 
iron  tubes,  through  which  live  steam  from  the  high-pressure  jackets,  but 
at  a  reduced  pressure,  is  constantly  circulating.  The  object  of  this  re- 
ceiver is  to  supply  the  low-pressure  cylinders  with  a  considerable  volume 
of  dry  steam  to  facilitate  a  quick  starting  away.  An  8-inch  balanced 
throttle  valve  admits  steam  to  the  high-pressure  cylinders,  and  a  similar 
valve,  12  inches  in  diameter,  admits  steam  from  the  reheater  to  the  low- 
pressure  cylinders. 

Each  high-pressure  cylinder  is  jacketed  with  live  steam  at  full  boiler 
pressure,  the  water  of  condensation  together  with  a  certain  amount  of 
steam  passing  through  a  Watts  pressure  regulator,  which  reduces  the 
pressure  in  the  jackets  of  the  reheater  and  low-pressure  cylinders  to  about 
30  Ibs.  The  final  water  of  condensation  is  discharged  automatically  by 
a  displacement  trap  into  the  hot  well. 

Each  air  pump  of  the  ordinary  marine  type  is  worked  off  the  cross- 
head.  The  condenser,  6  ft.  diameter  by  16  ft.  long,  fitted  with  125 
wrought-iron  tubes  31^  in.  outside  diameter  and  16  ft.  long,  is  situated 
just  outside  the  winding-engine  house.  All  the  water  pumped  from  the 
mine  passes  through  this  condenser  on  its  way  to  the  floors. 

A  circulating  pump  on  the  end  of  one  of  the  tail-shafts  supplies  water 
for  jet  injection  whenever  the  mine  pumps  are  not  supplying  sufficient 
water  to  condense  the  steam. 

L.  I.  SEYMOUR, 

Mechanical  Engineer  for  D.  B.  C.  M.  Ltd. 


APPENDIX    III 

REPORT  ON  PUMPING  PLANT   FOR    KIMBERLEY  MINE 

THE  new  plant  consists  of  a  vertical  triple-expansion  condensing 
engine,  having  cylinders  15^  in.,  23^  in.,  and  37  in.  diameter  respect- 
ively, with  a  stroke  of  36  in. 

The  high  and  intermediate  pressure  cylinders  are  arranged  tandem, 
over  one  crank,  the  low  pressure  working  on  the  other,  which  is  placed 
at  the  opposite  end  of  the  crank-shaft  and  at  an  angle  of  90°  with  the  other. 

A  double  acting  air  pump  is  driven  by  a  rocking  lever  from  one  cross- 
head  and  a  feed  pump  in  the  same  manner  from  the  other  engine. 

A  cast  steel  spur-wheel,  3  ft.  9  in.  pitch  diameter,  is  keyed  on  the 
engine  shaft,  and  drives  a  second  shaft  27  in.  diameter  by  gearing  with  a 
spur-wheel  30  ft.  pitch  diameter  made  of  cast  iron,  with  teeth  6  in.  pitch 
by  30  in.  face.  The  gears  were  made  by  Eraser  &  Chalmers,  of  Chi- 
cago, U.S.A.,  the  crank-shafts  by  Sir  J.  Whitworth,  of  Manchester,  and 
the  rest  of  the  work,  including  the  pumps,  by  Messrs.  J.  Simpson  &  Co. 
Ltd.,  of  London.  A  cast-steel  crank  is  keyed  on  the  second  motion 
shaft,  and  drives  the  T  bob  by  a  pitman  with  35  ft.  centres. 

On  the  nose  of  the  bob  is  hung  the  spear  rod  1250  ft.  long,  of  hard 
pine,  14  in.  square  for  the  first  500  ft.,  12  in.  square  for  the  second,  and 
10  in.  square  for  the  remainder. 

The  total  weight  of  the  rod,  including  strapping  plates  and  poles,  is 
6 1  tons,  which  will  be  partially  balanced  by  a  counterweight  on  the  top 
bob,  and  partly  by  a  second  bob  placed  at  the  i2OO-ft.  level. 

Attached  to  the  spear  rod  at  the  250  ft.,  the  500  ft.,  the  750  ft.,  the 
1000  ft.,  and  the  1200  ft.  levels  are  cast-iron  plungers  14  in.  diameter, 
having  a  stroke  of  10  ft.,  each  of  which  forces  the  water  to  the  next 
station  above  through  a  riveted  steel  pipe,  14  in.  diameter,  with  joints 
riveted  together. 

The  foundations  for  the  driving  machinery  are  made  of  concrete, 
with  the  proportion  of  cement  to  stone  of  I  :  9  on  the  average. 

L.  I.  SEYMOUR,  Mechanical  Engineer. 
669 


APPENDIX    IV 

THE  relative  values  of  South  African  coals  are  shown  in  the  following 
table,  exhibiting  tests  made  with  the  Beeley  boilers  at  De  Beers  mine :  — 


ENGLISH    COAL 

1890. 

April  29.  Nixon's  Steam  Navigation  coal 

July  1 6.  Nixon's  Steam  Navigation  coal  (ist  test) 

July  1 6.  Nixon's  Steam  Navigation  coal  (zd  test) 

Aug.   4.  Nixon's  Steam  Navigation  coal 


Pounds  of  feed-water 

evaporated  per  Ib.  of  coal 

from  and  at  212°  Fahr. 

.      11.67 

.       10.22 

.       I  I.  I  I 

10.40 


SOUTH    AFRICAN    COAL 

Nov.     7.  Vaal  Drift  Mine,  Transvaal     . 
1891. 

Feb.  12.  Newcastle,  Natal 

March  24.  Indwe,  Colonial    .... 

March  25.  Lewis  and  Marks,  Transvaal    . 

June  29.  Newcastle,  Natal 

July  20.  Kroonstad,  Free  State     . 


4-515 

9.520 
7.090 
6.734 
8.520 
7.084 


The  relative  cost  and  service  of  Welsh  and  Indwe  coal  delivered  at 
the  mines  are  approximately  as  follows  :  — 

£  '-    *• 

A  ton  of  2000  pounds  Welsh  coal  cost  .          .          .          700 

A  ton  of  Indwe  coal  .          .          .          .          .          .          1190 

Welsh  steam  coal  will  evaporate  about  eleven  pounds  of  water  per 
pound  of  coal  from  and  at  212°  Fahr.,  and  Indwe  coal  about  seven 
pounds.  Indwe  coal  is,  therefore,  worth  about  6o|%  of  Welsh  coal, 
and  costs  about  .£3  4*.  for  the  same  evaporating  value  contained  in  a  ton 
of  Welsh  coal  costing  more  than  double  this  sum. 


670 


APPENDIX    V 


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INDEX 


INDEX 


Abel,  Sir  Frederic  Augustus,  statistics  of, 
404,  405. 

Accidents  in  mining,  384-405. 

African  natives,  47,  48,  60,  65,  92-98,  102- 
109,  118,  178-181  ;  flock  to  Diamond 
Fields,  188,  189  ;  workers  in  fields,  218, 
219,  322,  325.  326,  39"-393.  397.  4°2- 
404,  413-449. 

Alexandersfontein,  original  grant  of,  168; 
searched  for  diamonds,  1 72  ;  prospecting 
discontinued,  220. 

Almeida,  Francisco  d',  first  Portuguese  vice- 
roy, 47. 

Arabia,  commerce  with  East  Africa,  35-39, 
44-46,  74,  75. 

Atherstone,  Dr.  W.  Guybon,  identifies  first 
South  African  diamond,  120,  121;  argues 
existence  of  diamond-bearing  deposits, 
122,  123;  theory  of  formation,  487-492. 

B 

Baines,  Thomas,  expedition  of,  572. 

Baring-Gould,  Atkins,  290. 

Baring-Gould,  Price  &  Tracy,  290. 

Baring-Gould,  Sir  Francis,  chairman  Kim- 
berley Central  Co.,  289. 

Barkly,  Sir  Henry,  Governor  of  Cape  Col- 
ony, 180,  181. 

"  Barnato,  Barney  "  (see  "  Isaacs,  Barnett  "), 
270. 

"  Barnato  Diamond  Mining  Company,  The," 
272-279. 

"Barnato,  Harry"  (see  "Isaacs,  Henry  "), 
270. 

Barros,  Joano  de,  describes  old  South  Afri- 
can mines,  50-53. 

Beaconsfield,  sketch  of,  469-471. 

"  Beau  Sancy,"  record  of,  24,  25. 


675 


Beit,  Alfred,  reaches  Diamond  Fields,  289; 
joins  Jules  Forges  &  Co.,  290;  organizes 
Wernher,  Beit  &  Co.,  290;  cooperates 
with  Rhodes,  193-296;  operates  in 
Rand,  576. 

Benaauwdheidsfontein,  farm  of,  196,  316, 
344,  661. 

Berlin  Mission  Society,  claims  part  of  Dia- 
mond Fields,  1 78  ;  exacts  license  fees 
from  miners,  163. 

Berquem,  Ixmis  de,  artist  in  diamond  cut- 
ting. 533.  534.  538,  542.  544- 

"  Biltong,"  food  of  settlers,  135. 

"Blue  ground,"  origin  of  name,  199;  fria- 
bility of,  199,  365-367;  early  methods 
of  extraction,  223-232;  diminution  of 
output,  242;  revival  of  mining,  244-246; 
falling  of,  221,  223,  252,  307,  308,  384- 
386 ;  methods  of  concentrating,  253- 
259;  systematic  extraction  of,  314-340; 
systematic  concentration,  360-383;  com- 
position of,  484-486,  488-497,  500-510. 

Boers,  origin  of  name,  90;  habits  of  life, 
88,  89,  118,  134,  135,  183;  grievances, 
91;  Great  Trek  of,  91-110;  character- 
istics of,  100-102,  183,  184;  prospecting 
for  diamonds,  165;  besiege  Kimberley, 
606-666. 

Bonney,  Prof.  T.  G.,  views  of,  508,  509. 

Borneo,  production  of  diamonds,  524. 

Boyes,  Lorenzo,  searches  for  diamonds,  121, 
122;  tests  first  South  African  diamond, 
1 20. 

"  Braganza,  The,"  discovery  of,  30. 

British    Guiana,    production    of   diamonds, 

525- 

British  South  Africa  Company,  incorporation 
of,  579  ;  advance  of,  579-595. 

Bultfontein,  farm  of,  166 ;  sold  to  specula- 
tors, 167;  title  to,  168;  entry  of  pros- 


6;6 


INDEX 


pectors,  172,  176;  mine  surface  area, 
220;  opening  the  mine,  252,  253;  min- 
ing company  absorbed,  302;  controlled 
by  De  Beers,  302;  nominal  valuation, 
306;  suspension  of  work,  343,  344;  re- 
opening, 344. 

Bultfontein  Consolidated  Company,  302. 

Bultfontein  Mining  Company,  302. 

Bulawayo,  581 ;  capital  of  Lobengula,  586  ; 
made  capital  of  Rhodesia,  588;  reached 
by  railway,  593. 


Central  Company,  see  "  Kimberley  Central 

Company." 
Chaka,  Zulu  chief,  92-94;  devastates  South 

Africa,  96,  97. 
"  Chartered  Company,"  see  "  British  South 

Africa  Company." 
Coal,  Wankie  beds,  593  ;  Stormberg  district, 

595-596  ;  Indwe,  596-598  ;  comparative 

values,  670. 
Cohen,    Louis,     partnership    with     Barney 

Barnato,  270-272. 
Colesberg,  town  of,  175. 
Colesberg  kopje,  original  location  Kimber- 
ley mine,    173-175  ;     centre   of    camp, 

«93- 
Compagnie  Francaise  des  Mines  de  Diamant 

du   Cap    de    Bon    Esperance,    281    (see 

"French  Company"). 
Compagnie  Generate,  302. 
Compressed  air,  applied  to  mining,  337. 
Copper    ore,   discoveries   in   Namaqualand, 

62-70,  82,  83  ;  in  Rhodesia,  592,  593. 
Crookes,  Sir  William,  experiments  of,  497- 

500;  conclusions  of,  501,  502. 
Currie,  Sir  Donald,  heads  syndicate,  281. 


"  Darya-i-nur,"  record  of,  27,  28. 

Ue  Beers  Consolidated  Mines,  systematic 
development  of,  315-322;  general  plan 
of,  316;  mining  plant  of,  323-338;  drain- 
age of,  334-339;  ventilation,  338;  light- 
ing, 337;  temperatures,  339;  output  of, 
339.  34°;  employes  in,  341,  407-449; 
nationalities  of,  341,  407,  408;  wages  of, 
341;  depositing  floors  of,  360-369;  dia- 
mond winning  plant,  360-383  ;  great 


fire  in,  388-400;  mud  rushes  in,  400- 
404;  comparative  casualties  in,  404; 
production  of  diamonds,  511-521,  671; 
coal  supply  of,  596-598;  besieged,  622- 
666. 

De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited,  for- 
mation of,  297-302;  acquires  holding  of 
De  Beers  Mining  Company,  301-302; 
acquires  Kimberley  mine,  291-294;  ac- 
quires Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein 
mines,  294,  302,  343,  470;  production  of 
diamonds,  304,  305;  capital  of,  306; 
undertakes  systematic  development,  314, 
315;  sells  annual  production,  383;  first 
annual  meeting,  390,  399;  offices  of,  460, 
511-516;  varied  promotions  of,  578-598; 
supports  defence  of  Kimberley,  614,  615, 
618-621,  625,  639-658,  666. 

De  Beers  Mining  Company,  origin  and  for- 
mation, 279-280;  financial  operations  of, 
281,  286-289;  amalgamation  with  De 
Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Limited,  290, 
291,  301,  302. 

De  Beers  mine,  location  of,  172;  open  work- 
ings, 196-209,  247-259;  surface  area, 
220;  extraction  of  diamonds,  253,  259; 
underground  workings,  307-314. 

De  Beers  mining  camp,  175-177;  growth  of, 
193-195'>  life  in.  210-219;  fusion  in 
Kimberley,  259. 

De  Beers  "Rush,"  175. 

De  Crano,  E.  G.,  negotiates  for  control  Kim- 
berley mine,  286-288. 

Dewar,  Prof.,  experiments  of,  497. 

Diamond-bearing  deposits,  479-510. 

Diamond,  romance  of,  I,  2,  9-11,  24-31; 
identified  with  adamas,  14;  properties 
of,  2,  3,  6,  486,  487;  formation  of,  486- 
510;  varieties  of,  153,  154,  207-290; 
classifications  in  use,  510-513;  earliest 
discovery  of,  5,  9,  12,  14-16;  in  Borneo, 
144,  524;  in  Brazil,  140-144,  523,  524; 
in  British  Guiana,  525;  in  India,  I,  16- 
21,  140,  524;  in  New  South  Wales,  524; 
in  South  Africa,  119;  Orange  River 
sands,  119;  banks  of  Vaal  River,  122; 
on  farm  Zendfontein,  123;  at  Jagers- 
fontein,  164;  at  Dutoitspan,  165,  166; 
on  farm  Bultfontein,  167;  at  Kimberley, 
173;  methods  of  extraction,  17-19,  141- 
154,  170-172,  199-206,  253-259,  360- 


INDEX 


677 


383;  production  of,  206,  305,  521-525, 
671;  ornamental  use  of,  12-16,  20,  24, 
526,  527;  cutting  and  polishing,  528-551 ; 
value  of,  13,  20,  520,  521;  market  for, 
511-521. 

Diamond  Field,  The,  newspaper  at  Klip- 
drift,  191. 

Diamond  News,  The,  first  South  African 
mining  town  newspaper,  162;  transferred 
to  Dutoitspan,  191. 

Diamond  washing  machines,  first  rotary,  254. 

Dingaan,  succeeds  Chaka,  97;  treachery  of, 
105,  106;  death  of,  108,  109. 

Discovery  of  diamond,  5,  9,  12,  14-16;  in 
India,  I,  16-21,  140;  in  South  Africa, 
114-139,  164-189;  in  Borneo,  144;  in 
Brazil,  140-144;  in  New  South  Wales, 
524;  in  British  Guiana,  525. 

Dorstfontein,  farm  surrounding  Dutoitspan, 
165,  1 66;  sold  to  predecessors  of  Lon- 
don and  South  African  Exploration  Com- 
pany, 1 66;  original  grant,  168. 

Dunell,  Ebden  &  Co.,  purchasers  of  Vooruit- 
zigt,  1 68,  196. 

Dunite  porphyry,  484. 

Dunn,  E.  J.,  views  of,  480. 

Dunsmure  and  Alderson,  combination  with 
Rhodes,  279,  280. 

Du  Plooy,  Cornelius  Hendrik,  owner  farm 
Bultfontein,  167. 

Durnin,  Charles,  prospector,  573. 

Dutch  East  India  Company,  takes  posses- 
sion of  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  6 1 ;  urges 
explorations,  61-70;  stimulates  indus- 
tries, 78-80;  drifts  to  bankruptcy,  84, 
85 ;  surrenders  Cape  Town,  86. 

Du  Toil,  Abraham  Pauls,  original  propri- 
etor Dorstfontein. 

Dutoitspan,  discovery  of  diamonds  at,  165, 
166;  opened  by  prospectors,  169-172; 
controlled  by  "Diggers'  Committee," 
177;  growth  of  camp,  190-193;  mine 
surface  area,  220;  method  of  working, 
250-252;  controlled  by  De  Beers,  302; 
nominal  valuation,  306;  work  in,  sus- 
pended, 343;  opening  of  shaft,  343. 


East  India  Company,  see  "  Dutch  East  India 
Company "  and  "  English  East  India 
Company." 


Elma  Company,  279. 

Emerald,  ornamental  use  of,  4,  8,  21,  22; 
early  descriptions  of,  12,  22. 

Engines,  see  "  Steam,"  "  Winding,"  "  Pump- 
ing,'1 etc. 

English  East  India  Company,  occupies  Table 
Bay,  61. 

F 

Fabricius,  discoverer  of  Premier  mine,  345. 

Fauresmith,  Free  State  Settlement,  164. 

Fire  in  De  Beers  mine,  388-400. 

"  Florentine,  The,"  famous  diamond,  30. 

Formation  of  the  diamond,  479-509. 

Foster,  Dr.  C.  Le  Neve,  reports  of,  404,  405, 

523,  524- 

Frank  Smith  mine,  483. 
Fraser  &  Chalmers,  337. 
"  French  Company  "  (Compagnie  Fra^aise 

des  Mines  de  Diamant  du  Cap  de  Bon 

Esperance),   mine  workings,   239,   246; 

holdings   of,   281 ;    united   with    Central 

Company,  286-289,  291. 

G 

Genesis  of  the  diamond,  486-509. 

Goffe,  Edward,  647. 

Golconda,  diamond  mines  of,  15,  16. 

Gold  fields  in  South  Africa,  572-578. 

Gouldie,  Joseph,  mine  manager,  312. 

Gouldie  system,  312. 

Graham,  Robert,  combination  with  Rhodes, 

279. 

"  Great  Mogul,"  record  of,  27,  28. 
Green,  Prof.  A.  H.,  views  of,  480. 
Griqualand  West  Diamond  Mining  Company, 

289,  302. 
Griqualand    West,    177;     organization    of 

crown  colony,  181. 

H 

Hall,  W.  A.,  holdings  of,  281,  312. 

Hannay,  J.  B.,  experiments  of,  497,  49^. 

Harris,  Lieut.  Col.,  commanding  Town 
Guard,  Kimberley,  607. 

Havilah,  identification  with  Rhodesia,  74  75. 

Hoisting  record,  De  Beers,  329-335. 

Hond,  Louis,  purchaser  of  Bultfontein    167. 

Hopetown  Company,  purchasers  ol  Bult- 
fontein, 167,  1 68. 

"  Horse  Whims,"  first  employed,  229. 


6;8 


INDEX 


Hughes,   Rev.   James,    establishes    church, 

464. 
Huguenots,  immigration  of,  78,  79. 


Illicit  diamond  buying,  264-266,  522,  523. 
India,  diamond    fields   of,   16-20;    precious 

stones    of,    16,    21-31;     production    of, 

524. 

Indwe  coal  field,  596-598. 
Isaacs,   Barnett,   reaches    Diamond   Fields, 

268,  269;  advance  and  method,  269-272, 

274-279;    competes   with  Rhodes,  288- 

294;   combines  with   Rhodes,  294,  296; 

address  to  shareholders,  399;    death  of, 

296. 
Isaacs,  Henry,  enters  Diamond  Fields,  268; 

engages  in  business,  270. 

J 

Jacobs,  Daniel,  children  of,  discover  dia- 
mond, 117-119. 

Jagersfontein,  farm  of,  164;  discovery  of 
diamonds  at,  164;  opening  of  mine,  358- 
359;  output  of,  359;  dividends  of,  359. 

Jameson,  Dr.  L.  S.,  mission  to  Lobengula, 
581 ;  leads  force  into  Mashonaland,  581- 
583;  administrator,  584,  585,  588;  con- 
quers Lobengula,  586. 

Jeffries,  David,  treatise  on  diamonds,  5 1 7-5  2 1 . 

Jones,  Edward,  engineering  service  of,  244, 

245" 

Kaap  Valley,  discovery  of  gold,  573. 

Karoo,  baffles  explorations,  65-67,  81,  82; 
crossing  of,  131-133;  "Great"  or  "Cen- 
tral," 131,  132;  basin  formation,  479. 

Keate,  Lieutenant  Governor,  determines  title 
to  Diamond  Fields,  180,  181. 

Kekewich,  Lieut.  Col.  Robert  George,  com- 
mandant at  Kimberley,  607. 

Kenilworth,  sketch  of,  471-478. 

Kimberley  Central  Company,  mine  workings, 
239,  245,  246,  281,  307,  308;  extension 
of  holdings,  272,  281,  289;  rivalry  with 
De  Beers,  291-294. 

Kimberley,  Earl,  1 80. 

Kimberley,  rush  to,  164-189;  growth  of 
camps,  193-195;  life  in,  210-219;  fusion 
of  camps,  259;  formation  of  town,  259— 
265;  Mining  Board,  235-242;  miners 


resident,  407-414;  description  of  town, 
450-469;  siege  of,  605-666. 

Kimberley  mine,  location  of,  173-175;  con- 
trolled by,  177;  survey  of,  197;  method 
of  working,  196-209;  surface  area,  220; 
opening  the  crater,  221-246;  extraction 
of  diamonds,  253-259;  underground 
workings,  307-314;  operating  companies, 
272-282;  amalgamation  of,  286-294; 
rock  formations,  479-494,  497,  502,  506- 
510. 

Kimberley  Waterworks,  263,  264,  620. 

King  Solomon's  Mines,  traditionary  location 
of,  35-38;  opened  by  Himyaritcs,  74. 

Kirsten,  Fred,  invention  of,  378-381. 

Kisch,  T.  B.,  associate  locator  of  Kimberley 
mine,  174. 

Klip-drift,  "  Rocky-ford,"  diamond  diggers' 
camp  on  Vaal  River,  137-139;  early 
mining  at,  145-163;  declaration  of  in- 
dependence, 159;  dwindling  of,  191. 

"Koh-i-nOr,"  extorted  by  Runjeet  Singh,  I; 
traditional  source  of,  17,  528;  romantic 
record  of,  27,  28;  cutting  of.  544,  546. 

"  Koh-i-tur,"  record  of,  27.  28. 

Kriiger,  Stephen  J.  Paul,  becomes  president 
South  African  Republic,  183,  184. 

Kunz,  George  F.;  views  of,  525,  526,  527. 


Labram,  George,  mechanical  engineer,  378; 

designs   "Long   Cecil";     killed    during 

siege,  653-656. 
Lawn,  Prof.  J.  G.,  461  ;  report  of,  483  ; 

analysis  of,  507. 
Lewis,  Prof.  Henry  Carvill,  views  of,  484, 

492,  493- 
Lilienfeld,  Leopold,  purchaser  of  Bultfontein, 

167. 

Lippert  &  Co.,  289. 
Lippert,  Ludwig,  assists  Rhodes,  288. 
Lobengula,  grants  concession,  581  ;   forays 

of,  585,  586  ;  defeat  and  death,  587,  588. 
London    and    South    African     Exploration 

Company,     successors     of    "  Hopetown 

Company,"  168  ;   leases  diggings,  196 ; 

lessors   Bultfontein  mine,   343  ;    transfer 

of  property  to  De  Beers,  470. 
"Long  Cecil,"  construction  and  use  of,  647- 

651. 
Luzi,  W.,  experiments  of,  503-506. 


INDEX 


679 


Lydenburg,  mines  of,  572,  573. 
Lynch,   Thomas,   speculative   purchaser   of 
Bultfontein,  167. 

M 

Mauch,  Karl,  explorations  of,  53,  70-72. 
Mankoroane,  cedes  holdings  in  Bechuana- 

land,  285,  286. 
McFarland,  George,  managing  director,  386, 

387. 

Meyer,  Carl,  287. 
Michaelis,  Max,  active  in  Diamond  Fields, 

290;  joins  Wernher,  Beit  &  Co.,  290. 
Minerals  mixed  with  diamonds,  377,  378. 
Mining    claims,    river    diggings,    146-150; 

Jagersfontein,     165;     Dutoitspan,     169- 

172;   Kimberley,   175;   Bultfontein,  176; 

size  determined,  177,  196,  197,  236,  237. 
Modder  Fontein,  tirst  reached  by  explorers, 

83- 

Modder  River  region,  136,  137. 
Molengraaf,  Prof.,  views  of,  494-496. 
Monomotapa,  dynastic  name,  54;  traditional 

empire  of,  55-58. 

Morse,  Henry  G.,  pioneer  lapidary,  551. 
Mosenthal,  Harry,  negotiates  with  "French 

Company,"  287-288. 
Moulle,  M.  A.,  views  of,  481. 

N 

New  Jagersfontein  Mining  and  Exploration 
Co.  Ltd.,  358. 

New  Rush,  Colesberg  Kopje,  original  location 
Kimberley  mine,  173;  rechristened  Kim- 
berley, 175. 

New  South  Wales,  production  of  diamonds, 
524. 

Niekerk,  Schalk  van,  obtains  first  South 
African  diamond,  119. 

O 

Olifants  River,  65,  67. 

Ophir,  connection  with  Judaea,  35;  search 
for,  35-70;  Portuguese  fort,  45;  identi- 
fied with  Portus  Nobilis,  74,  75. 

Orange  Free  State,  formation  of,  III;  claim 
to  Diamond  Fields,  177,178;  compensa- 
tion for  losses,  rSi ,  182. 

Orange  River,  first  named  "  Vigiti  Magna," 
69;  familiarly  called  the  Groote,  8l; 
christened  by  Colonel  Gordon,  82. 


Orange    River    Sovereignty,    formation    of, 

no;    dissolution  of,  in. 
O'Reilly,  John,  carries  off  first  South  African 

diamond,  119,  120. 
\Drr,  Prof.,  462. 

P 

"  Pan,"  shallow  earth  basin,  135. 

Panna,  diamond  fields  of,  19,  20. 

Pearls,  ornamental  use  of,  22,  23. 

Peridotite,  diamantiferous,  484. 

Perils  in  mining,  384-405. 

Peruzzi,  Vincenzo,  invented  double  faceting, 
538- 

"  P'gg°tt>  The,"  famous  diamond,  30. 

Pniel,  mission  station  on  Diamond  Fields, 
137;  diamond  diggings  at,  160-163. 

Porges,  Jules  &  Co.,  operations  in  Diamond 
Fields,  289,  290  ;  in  the  Rand,  576. 

Portugal,  explorers  of  Africa  from,  44-46  ; 
attempts  to  enter  South  Africa,  47-50, 
58-60. 

Potter,  Ralph,  expert  lapidary,  550. 

Precious  stones,  how  first  discovered,  5,  9  ; 
emblematic  service,  6,  7 ;  traditional 
mystic  powers,  5,  6  ;  use  as  ornaments, 
7,  8,  16,  21-24;  origin  of,  n  ;  measure 
of  value,  520  ;  world's  stock,  526,  527  ; 
cutting  and  polishing,  528-532. 

Premier  mine,  discovery  of,  345  ;  purchase 
of,  344-347;  opening  of,  345-35  7  ;  prod- 
uct of,  347,  349,  352-357  ;  value  of,  357; 
fossils  in,  485  ;  during  siege,  617-621. 

Pretoria,  capital  of  South  African  Republic, 
no. 

Pretorius,  Andries,  attacks  Zulus,  106-108; 
repulses  British  attack,  109  ;  death  of, 
no. 

Pretorius,  Marthinus  Wessel,  first  president 
South  African  Republic,  1 10 ;  grants 
exclusive  license  for  Vaal  River  Diamond 
Fields,  159  ;  forced  to  resign  presidency, 
183. 

Pulsator,  combination  of  jigs,  375-377. 

Pumping  plant,  De  Beers  mine,  336  ;  Kim- 
berley mine,  337,  669. 


Railways,  first  in  South  Africa,  113;   exten- 
sion of,  556-572. 
Rand,  The,  gold  mining  in,  572-578. 


68o 


INDEX 


Rawstorne,  Fleetwood,  discoverer  of  Kim- 
berley  mine,  174. 

"  Reef,"  name  given,  199 ;  falling  of,  234- 
236,  238-253,  314-322.  384-386. 

Reenen,  Willem  van,  exploration  of,  83. 

"  Regent,  The,"  record  of,  29,  30. 

Rhodes,  Cecil  John,  enters  South  Africa, 
273;  reaches  Kimberley,  274;  advance 
and  aims,  275-278;  organizes  De  Beers 
Mining  Company,  279,  280;  seeks  con- 
trol of  Kimberley  mine,  281,  286-293; 
secures  control  Kimberley,  Dutoitspan, 
and  Bultfontein  mines,  294,  296;  enters 
Cape  Parliament,  283;  obtains  Protector- 
ate over  Lower  Bechuanaland,  285,286; 
organizes  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines 
Limited,  297-306;  suppresses  riot,  442, 
443;  on  mine  formation,  482;  operates 
in  the  Rand,  576,  577;  organizes  British 
South  Africa  Company,  579,  580;  floats 
African  Lakes  Company,  581;  enters 
Mashonaland,  581-583;  founds  Rho- 
desia, 586-595;  expansion  policy,  599- 
601 ;  services  in  siege  of  Kimberley,  6l  I, 
621,624,625;  death,  601. 

Rhodesia,  entry  into,  579-585;  extension  of, 
586-595. 

Riebeeck,  Jan  van,  leads  Dutch  colonizing 
expedition,  6i;  equips  exploring  parties, 
63-66. 

River  Diggings  along  Vaal  River,  124-139, 
145-163,  178-181,  191,  522,  523. 

Robinson,   J.  B.,  operations   in   the    Rand, 

576-578. 
Rothschild,  N.  M.,  &  Sons,  financial  support 

of  Rhodes,  286-288. 

Ruby,  traditional  efficacy  of,  6;  identifica- 
tion with  Carbunculus,  12;  found  in 

Ceylon,  12. 
Rudd,   C.  D.,   unites   claims  with   Rhodes, 

279,  280;  obtains  mineral  rights,  579. 
Runchman,  Hoskyns  &  Puzey,  combination 

with  Rhodes,  279. 
Rush,  to  Vaal  River  diamond  diggings,  125- 

139;  to  Kimberley,  164-189. 


Sapphire,  early  descriptions  of,  4,  15;  tradi- 
tional efficacy  of,  6;  value  of,  13;  iden- 
tified with  adamas,  15. 

Saxonite  porphyry,  484. 


Seymour,  L.  I.,  mechanical  engineer,  336, 
337,  667-669. 

Sheba,  tribute  of  Queen  of,  35 ;  connection 
with  river  Sabi,  45 ;  kingdom  of  Queen, 
74;  supposed  connection  with  Zimbabwe, 

7'- 

Shiels,  Thomas,  280. 

Simpson,  James,  &  Co.  Ltd.,  336,  337,  667. 

Skips,  De  Beers,  328,  329. 

Smith,  Hamilton,  286. 

Sofala,  on  map  of   Edrisi,  39;   reached  by 

Pedro  de  Covilhao,  44;  goal  of  Vasco  da 

Gama,  45 ;   identified  with  Tharshish,  74. 
South  African  Diamond  Mining  Company, 

302. 
South  African  Republic,  formation  of,  no; 

conflict  with  miners  on  the  Vaal,   158- 

160;  claims  Diamond  Fields,  177. 
South  African  School  of  Mines,  460,  461. 
Southey,  Richard,  Lieutenant  Governor  ad- 
ministering Griqualand  West,  181. 
Spes-Bona  Diamond  Mining  Company,  302. 
"Star  of  South  Africa,"  famous  diamond, 

123. 
Steam  engines,  revolving  sieve  driver,  204; 

first    steam    winding,    231;     De   Beers 

plant,   323-340. 
Stel,  Simon  van  der,  Commandant  at   the 

Cape,  67;  explores  Namaqualand,  67-70; 

governor  of  Cape  Colony,  70;   improves 

botanic  garden,  77. 
Stelzner,  Dr.  A.  W.,  views  of,  479,  481,  483, 

484,  497. 

Stewart,  James,  manager  of  Pulsator,  381. 
Stormberg  coal  field,  595,  596. 
Stow  and  English,  combination  with  Rhodes, 

279,  280. 
Struben,  Fred,  develops  Rand  mines,  574- 

576. 

Sultan  Diamond  Mining  Company,  302. 
Sumbulpur,  diamond  field  of,  18,  19. 


"  Taj-e-mah,"  record  of,  27,  28. 

Telegraph,  in  South  Africa,  572;  Transcon- 
tinental, 583;  crosses  Rhodesia,  585. 

Thompson,  Rev.  James,  sketches  Kimberley, 
451.452. 

Topaz,  ornamental  use  of,  4,  21 ;  derivation 
of,  22. 

Tramways,  De  Beers,  361. 


INDEX 


681 


Trucks,  De  Beers,  324,  325,  360-364,  369. 
Turner-Scott,  Lieut.  Col. ,  service  in  siege  of 

Kimberley,  606,  626-631,  635-637. 
Turquoise,  traditional  efficacy  of,  6. 

U 
United  Diamond  Mining  Company,  280,  302. 


Vaal  River  diamond  field,  122,  124-139, 
145-163. 

Van  Wyk,  Adriaan  J.,  purchaser  of  farm 
Dorstfontein,  166;  sells  to  predecessors 
of  London  and  South  African  Explora- 
tion Company,  166. 

Veld,  definition  of,  134. 

Victoria  Company,  280,  387. 

Visser,  Cornells  Johannes,  proprietor  farm  of 
Jagersfontein,  164. 

Visser,  Jacoba  Magdalena,  widow  of  Cor- 
nells, 164,  165. 

Vooruitzigt,  originally  part  of  Bultfontein, 
168;  entry  of  prospectors,  172;  division 

of,  175- 

W 

Wankie  coal  field,  593. 

Ward,  Henry  A.,  opens  Premier  mine,  345- 
349;  lease  expires,  352. 

Washing  Plant,  De  Beers,  369-373. 

Waterboer,  Nicholas,  claim  to  Diamond 
Fields,  178-181. 

Webb,  Henry  Barlow,  purchaser  of  Bultfon- 
tein, 167. 


Wernher,  Julius,  reaches  Diamond  Fields, 
289;  organizes  Wernher,  Beit  &  Co.,  290. 

Wernher,  Beit  &  Co.,  combination  with 
Rhodes,  279-296;  organization  of,  290. 

Wessels  estate,  345,  346,  349,  352, 

Wesselton  mine,  345  (see  "  Premier  ") ;  vil- 
lage of,  470,  471. 

Whitworth,  Sir  J.,  337. 

Williams,  Gardner  F.,  takes  charge  of  De 
Beers  mine,  312;  general  manager  Con- 
solidated Mines,  315;  initiates  experi- 
ments, 378;  handling  of  fire  in  mine,  389- 
399;  suppresses  riot,  442-443;  on  forma- 
tion of  diamond,  487,  491-494,  500,  505, 
506,  510;  visits  Rand,  574,  575;  in  siege 
of  Kimberley,  629,  644,  657-664. 

Winding  engines,  first  used,  231;  De  Beers, 
523-534,  667,  668. 

Winding  shafts,  De  Beers,  323-334. 

Witwatersrand,  The,  573-578. 

Wodehouse,  Sir  Philip,  buys  first  South  Afri- 
can diamond,  121. 

Workers  in  the  mines,  407-449. 

Wyley,  colonial  geologist,  117,  130,  131. 


"Yellow  ground,"  opening  of,  169-171;  ori- 
gin of  name,  198;  extent  of,  199;  fall- 
ing of,  220,  250,  251;  in  Premier  mine, 
347-349- 


Zimbabwe,  ruins  of,  53,  72,  73. 


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